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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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The Colored American 



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Slavery to Honorable Citizenship 



^ BY 

PROF. J.^W. GIBSON (White), 

Member of G. A. R.; Author of U. S. School History. 

PROF. W. H. CROGMAN, A. M. (Colored), 

Professor in Clark University, Atlant.i, Ga.; Author of "Talks fur the Times, 

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VVlTJf AN INTR(?DL*Ct-IC'N '\^^ '^,*^ 

BY 

PROF. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, A. M., 

Author of "An Autobiography," "Story of My Life," Etc., Etc. 



J. L. NICHOLS & CO,, 

MANUFACTURING PUBLISHERS, 
Atlanta, Ga. Naperville, III. Toronto, Ont. 

10O1 

^^AGENTS WANTED. 



THE LIBRARY OF 


CONGRESS, 


Two Copies Received 


MAR. 18 1901 


Copyright entry 
CLASS CCXXC N». 


COPY B. 






. . .. GopxR1GH-i>/1001.;by J..'Ii.:N.cRcjts&Co. 

':' -oil] o'niy' ■by'slbkd.lplio^^' ^nd not tJ tfe Ld ^n the bookstor, 
Any one desiring a copy should address the pubhshers. 



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? i 

•^ ^' PREFACE. 

"^ ^ Our apology for presenting to the public a new book 
5|k is not that the>re are not sufficient books already written 
on the Negro, but that to our knowledge there has 
been no attempt made to put into permanent form a 
record of his remarkable progress under freedom — a 
progress not equaled in the annals of history. 

Although the "Progress of a Generation" might, as 
to time, more accurately bound the limits of our theme, 
we have preferred to record as well the struggles and 
triumphs of the Race in the dark days of bondage, for 
slavery, with all its appalling horrors, was neverthe- 
less in a sense educative to the Race. 

We are not ignorant of the fact that the eye of the 
critic will discern imperfections, but after much and 
labored research we have followed the plan that, in our 
judgment, would make the volume an incentive to 
greater progress in the future. 

In the chapter on Noted Men and Women we may 
be charged with gross omissions, but the modesty of 
many men and women worthy of mention has pre- 
vented a record of noble lives. In other cases the 
manuscript did not reach us in time. 

We have quoted largely from different authors, and 
wherever possible have given credit, but in some cases 
even this was not possible, as the author was not always 
known. We are especially indebted to Dr. Hubbard, 
of Meharry Medical College, and Prof. Spence, of Fisk 
University, for valuable information* 

Our motive throughout has been that of an increas- 
ing desire to aid in the work of elevating the Race for 
which many noble lives have been given. 

We shall feel well repaid for our labors, if, through 
the perusal of these pages, there shall be an incentive 
to even greater efforts, during the second generation 
of freedom. With the sincere hope that our efforts 
may aid in inducing the multitudes to catch the same 
spirit of progress that imbues their leaders, we send 

this volume forth. 

THE AUTHORS. 





BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The Progress of a Generation in the history of the 
Negro is the most fascinating study modern tiines pos- 
sesses. Springing from the darkest depths of slavery 
and sorrowful ignorance to the heights of manhood and 
power almost at one bound, the Negro furnishes an un- 
paralleled example of possibility. In the pages follow- 
ing, the authors have performed a duty at once difficult 
and needful — that of following the rise of the Negro 
through the different stages of his career. It is a task 
that merits respect, commands attention, and is, unhap- 
pily, too seldom attempted. 

The task of a biographer of a people is too frequently 
a thankless one. In sifting out the conflicting elements 
which present themselves for his consideration he is 
apt to injure tradition. In using material which he 
thinks best he is likely to iipset preconceived ideas of 
theorists. His work must be the result of careful think- 
ing and an astonishing amount oi finesse and diplomacy. 

The historian of the Negro race has all this and more 
too. He must, in addition to the other duties which 
devolve upon him in his work, be able to prophecy and 
foresee the days to come. For the progress of the 
Negro is far from completed — it is yet in its incipient 
stage — and the eyes of the prophet must discern 
whither the road leads, upward or downward. 

The unprecedented leap the Negro made when freed 
from the oppressing withes of bondage is more than 
deserving of a high place in history. It can never be 
chronicled. The world needs to know of what mettle 
these people are built. It needs to understand the vast 
possibility of a race, so much despised and so thor- 
oughly able to prove without blare and flourish of 
trumpet its ability to hold its own and compete, after 
only thirty years of life, with those of centuries of 
lineage. 

The dawn of new life is again gleaming behind the 



VI INTRODUCTION. 

horizon. After the words were spoken which pro- 
nounced the Negro free, he hesitated a minute, then 
sprang towards the highest place at once. It was not 
many days before he was heard from in all positions, 
in all walks of life ; he was in high government posi- 
tions, his name was on the most exclusive professional 
roles, yet the common horde lingered in surprised help- 
lessness, wondering what next. Such a state of affairs, 
though brilliant, was without foundation and could 
not last. In building the structure of his race-life the 
Negro had begun at the top. The cupola could not last 
without a foundation ; the work was shaking without a 
firm support. Of late years this is being realized, and 
we are turning our attention to the foundation work. 
It may be that some are blind to the crying needs 
of an absolute and unwrenchable foundation in the soil 
of the state, but those whose eyes are opened must 
realize that we can advance no further, or do no better 
work, until we have paused and implanted ourselves 
firmly. The progress made thus far has been magnifi- 
cent, but like the house built upon sands. Ere we 
add another gable or tower to its structure we must 
insure it against the lash of the storm's fury by placing 
a solid rock beneath its surface. 

This is where the progress of the Negro leads us 
today — to pause in the brilliant meteoric advance and 
stride forward henceforth as a solid phalanx of earnest, 
industrious toilers^ for a merited place in the world's 
array of nations. By the work-shop, the well-tilled 
farm, the scientifically conducted dairy, the mechanic's 
well-done work, our advance is now being noted. 
From gaining the wondering curiosity of the world for 
a chosen, brilliant few, we are compelling its respect 
and admiration for ourselves as a whole, as a people 
upon whom the stigma of idle dreaming can no longer 
be laid. 

%Thus, while the authors record m these pages the 
progress of the Negro within the past generation, let 
us hope that when another quarter century has passed 
away the race's biographer may have a still more 
promising' story to tell. Let us hope that it will be a 



INTRODUCTION. Vli 

story of a people taking part in the affairs of a 
nation — not in isolated cases, but as an integral part of 
a magnificent whole. Let us hope that there will be 
manufacturers, as well as senators ; good and success- 
ful business men, as well as politicians; reputable 
artisans, as well as literateurs; millionaires, as well 
as laborers. Let us hope that the wave of industrial 
feeling now extending over the country may find its 
culmination in the unmistakable and solid foundation 
of a magnificent people, and crystallize a race into 
conformation with the highest standard reached by 
man in the present age. 

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, 
Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. 
TusKEGEE, Ala., Atigust 8, 1897. 



WE ARE RISING. 

BY REV. GEORGE C. ROWE. 

Among the sayings of our race, 

Suggestive and surpiising, 
That fill a most exalted place, 

Is, "Tell them we are rising!" 

The question asked for right and truth, 
What to the North your greeting? 

The answer from a Negro youth — 
"Tell them we are rising!" 

Within Atlanta's classic halls, 

This youth, self-sacrificing. 
Wrote high his name upon her walls, 

His motto: "We are rising!" 

Out in the world he makes his mark, 

Danger and fear despising. 
E'er soaring upward like the lark, 

My brethren: "We are rising!" 

He meets the foe with voice and pen, 

With eloquence surprising! 
Give us a chance, for we are men! 

Most surely we are rising! 

Rising to take our place beside 

The noble, the aspiring; 
With energy and conscious pride, 

To the best things, we're rising! 

Within the class-room is his place, 
' Greek, Latin, criticising. 

To raise the youthful of his race, 
And show the world we're rising! 

Go forth, my friend, upon your way, 

Each obstacle despising, 
Prove by your efforts every day 

To all that we are arising! 

In farming, trade and literature, 

A people enterprising! 
Our churches, schools, and home life pure. 

Tell to the world we're rising! 

Note.— About a score of years since, Gen. O. O. Howard, then con- 
nected with the Freedman's Bureau, on visiting one of the colored schools 
in (ieorj^ia, asked the children: "What message shall I take from j ou to the 
people of the North?" An intelligent boy answered promptly: "Tell them 
we are rising!" The boy was Richard Wright, of Augusta, Ga., who has 
since graduated from Atlanta Universitv, ably filled the editorial chair, 
and is now President of the State Normal School, of College, Georgia. 



TABLE OF GONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

History of the Race. 

Unity of the race — Of one blood — No inferior race — 
The curse theory — Base of arguments — The proper 
interpretation — Josephus — Herodotus — The case 
stated — The color theory — Plants and animals — 
Gradations of color — Caucasians — Dr. Livingston — 
Equator to polar circles — From inland to coast 
— Black, a mark of reproach — Ideals of Nei;'roes — • 
God knows best — Antiquity — J. P. Jefferis — Further 
evidence — The word Negro — The term Negro — 
Africa for the Negroes — Deportation — Not well 
considered — Separation would not relieve — Not 
possible — Points of superiority — Physical character- 
istics — Distinguishing traits — Drink traffic — In- 
genuity — In other continents — Unknown to He- 
brews — Liberia — Sierra Leone — Purpose and prep- 
aration — Africa's future. 

CHAPTER IL 

Slavery. 

Knowledge worth knowing — In Africa — Sources of 
slavery — Right of a free adult to sell himself — 
Insolvent debtors — Sale of criminals — Kidnapping 
— Capture in war — Slaves of slaves — Early history 
of slavery — Livingston's tomb — For what purpose — 
European plantation slavery — In Asia — Slavery in 
Portugal — Columbus — Slavery in the New World — 
First slaves — First liberty — Slavery in the United 
States — Slavery contended for — The slave trade — 
The slave dealer — Kidnapping — The middle pas- 
sage — The slave dealer and President Lincoln — 
Profit — Slavery a curse — Fusion — Slavery not justi- 
fiable — Slavery degrading — A curious advertise- 



X TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

ment — Slave trade in the United States — Abolish- 
ing African slave trade — Effects of slavery on slave 
owners — The Negro not content in slavery — Serious 
apprehensions — Uncle Tom's Cabin — Negro insur- 
rection — Restriction of slavery — Slavery in the 
colonies — The Southern colonists — Maryland and 
Delaware — Profitable in Maryland — Virginia — New 
York — The Negro plot — Rhode Island — ■ Demand 
for ignorance — New Jersey — South Carolina — 
North Carolina — New Hampshire — Massachusetts 
— Pennsylvania — Slave-breeding states — Not uni- 
versally countenanced — Border states — Pensioning 
old and feeble slaves. 

CHAPTER in. 

The Negro in the Revolution. 

Slave population — A great mistake — First blood for 
liberty — Crispus Attucks — Hero and Martyr — • 
Committee of safety — Major Lawrence — Freeing 
the slave — Colonial congress — Reorganization — 
Lord Dunmore — The negro prince — Major Jeffrey 
— Re-enslavement — The legislature of Virginia — • 
Simon Lee — Massachusetts — The British army — ■ 
The heroism of the Negro — Mr. Pinckney — Mr 
Eustis — Rev. Dr. Hopkins — Colonel Laurens — Ne- 
gro soldiers. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Anti-Slavery Agitation. 

Slavery established in the South — Responsibility — Agi- 
tation — Property in man — Quakers — Benjamin 
Lundy — William Lloyd Garrison — -Anti-slavery 
societies — Silence of the pulpit — Leaders of the 
anti-slavery party — Theodore Parker — Other agi- 
tators — Colonization societies — Wendell Phillips — 
Convention of colored people — The proposed col- 
lege — Anti-slavery women of America — Anti- 
slavery orators — Literature — Harriet Beecher 
Stowe — The pro-slavery reaction — Attempts to 
stifle discussion — Mob riots — Rifling the mails — 
Congress suppressing agitation — jolm Brown. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. XI 

CHAPTER V. 

Fugitive Slave Laws. Underground Railroad 
System. Slave Population. 

Calvin Fairbanks— Rev. John Rankin— W. L. Chat- 
lain — Thos. Garrett — Levi Coffin — Jonathan 
Walker — Underground railroad— Different branches 
— Agents — Stockholders — Methods pursued — Wm. 
Jones — Henry Box Brown — Amanda Smith — Wil- 
liam and Ellen Craft — Emancipators tried — Seth 
Concklin — Slave population. 

CHAPTER VL 

The Negro in the Civil War. 
Number enrolled — Ready for enlistment — Opposition 
to enlistment — Objections — General Hunter — Mr. 
Wyckliff — After a year — Public opinion changed — 
In the Union ranks — Confederate measures — In the 
navy — Official authority — Recruiting officers — In- 
dignation — Governor Yates — Discrimination — Gen- 
eral Butler — President Lincoln — In Congress — Prej- 
udice broken down — Colonel Shaw — Fort Wagner 
— Milliken Bend— The First Regiment— Port Hud- 
son — Captain Callioux — In the Mississippi Valley — 
Battle of AVilson's Wharf — Petersburg — General 
Smith on Petersburg — Adjutant-General L. Thomas 
— Strict obedience — Important addition — Heavy 
guns — General Armstrong of Hampton — A cavalry 
force — Few of the many tributes — Items of inter- 
est — In present service — In military academy — ■ 
Colored soldiers of Georgia. 

CHAPTER VIL 

Moral and Social Advancement. 

Frederick Douglass — Statement verified — Hopeless 
condition — Freedom gave him his hands — Not sur- 
passed in history — Degraded by compulsion — Slave 
breeders — Well known to slave-holders — Why 
stated — Heathenism — Humane masters — Few in 
number — Defending slavery — Financial considera- 
tion — A struggling race — Ignorance equaled by 



Xn TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



\ 



poverty — Difficult to comprehend — Moral improve- 
ment — Negro immoralities — In proportion to oppor- 
tunities — Negro domination — Inconsistent, incor- 
rect and narrow views — Look not for greatness — 
Labor to become great — In America — Change dur- 
ing years of bondage — In twenty years — False hopes 
— Charitable judgment — Thrift — Loyal American — 
Thrift and self-respect — Negro homes — Legacy be- 
queathed by slavery — Happy and comfortable 
homes — Do something — Cast down your bucket — In 
our stead — The mule and forty acres — Freedom — ■ 
Rape — An awful charge — No attribute to side 
with us — Counter-charged — One recourse left — 
Heathen Africa — Not the nature of the black man 
— Like bcQfets like — A degraded condition — The 
World's Fair — Half free and half slave — The great 
desideratum — A dwarfed people — Gratitude — • 
Millions for education — Full-fledged men — God 
hates cowardice — Physical resistance — Debt of our 
nation — Bishop Gaines on lynching — Not in sym- 
pathy with crime — Innocent men victims — Justice — 
Temperance — Soberness — Total abstinence — Lead- 
ers temperate — Cross-roads grocery — Crime trace- 
able to liquor habit — Delirium tremens — Not a 
race of drunkards — Reliable allies — Educational 
institutions — The shame of the Christian nation — 
A sad end — Temperance resolutions — Woman in 
temperance — Tobacco — Smoking a crime — Tobacco 
a poison — Nicotine — Killed in thirty minutes — Hab- 
it of smoking — Filthy and pernicious — Leaders 
needed — Moral status — Business world — Criminals 
— Professions — Trade education — Patents — Debt 
of gratitude — Our country — Does not crave dom- 
ination, but equality — Prejudice — Corruption of 
public men — Toward the light — Progress since free- 
dom — Affections and friendships — When the war 
ended — It was natural — Best specimens of physical 
manhood — Not in color — Remarkable advancement 
— Still in idleness — Honored mention — Just judg- 
ment. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. XTIl 

CHAPTER VIII. 

The Colored Woman of Today. 

Womanhood — Appreciative — Good wives — National 
Association of Colored Women — False impressions 
— Wants — Papers read — Resolutions — Provident 
hospital — Womanhood insulted — Purity — High 
sense of womanhood — Character — Unity of the race 
— Virtue — Ebb and flow — Mother of Douglass — 
Woman a teacher — Responsibility — Ignorance and 
poverty — Great and multifarious — Power given to 
woman — Drudge of the nation — The center — 
Young women — Prepare yourself — Do not fail — • 
Begin now — The world will feel it — A new era — - 
Home life — One-room cabins — Organization— Sys- 
tem — Prejudice — Work left to colored women- — Self- 
respect — In bondage — No monopoly — Plow to win — • 
A true lady — Company — Books and papers — Homes 
— Good taste displayed in dress — Amusements — • 
Duty to perform — Topmost round — Possibilities — • 
Difficulties — Great need — Our homes — Not con- 
fined to homes — Social purity among our girls — ■ 
Industrial schools — Professional and literary work- 
ers — Path of duty — Retrospective and prospective 
view — Thirty years — Christian women — Home — • 
Marriage — Foundation stones — A good character — 
A single standard — Ruined manhood — Wise moth- 
ers — Anti-natal life — Heredity — Aristocracy — Need 
of the hour — Science of a true life. 

CHAPTER IX. 

Progress in Industries. 

United efforts — No more speedy remedy — Race pride 
— Consumers — Brains and labor — Testimonials of 
Hampden students — Hope and progress — Dignity 
and nobility of manual labor — In the business world 
— Half free — Negro labor — Fears aroused — Capable 
— Prospect— A business education — Tilling the soil 
— Way marks — Waiting for something to do — 
Skilled mechanics — Practical education — Higher 

2 Progress. 



XIV TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

education — What the South needs — Go to the farm 
— Buy a farm — Advancement — Worth of property 
— Looking upward — A changed man — At progress- 
ive door — Atlanta's colored representatives — Forest 
home — Items of interest — Gilchrist Stewart — H. D. 
Smith — D. Rowan — John T. Schell — Alex. Hamil- 
ton — Henry A. Rucker — Bartow F. Powell — Mr. 
Billlngslea — Deal Jackson — Joe Jeff — Thrift and 
industry — Improving in morals — Peaceable com- 
munity. 

CHAPTER X. 

Financial Growth. 

Property owmers — Wealthy men of Richmond — Mort- 
gaged property — Wealthy colored New York men 
— Twenty-five years' accumulations — The colored 
churches — Much property — Rev. A. G. Davis — • 
Men of wealth — Jacob McKinley — Robt. Thos. 
Taylor — Lewis Bates — Encouraged. 

CHAPTER XL 

Mortality. 

The colored race of Nashville — Birth rate — Mortality 
— Homes — Deaths — Children in public schools — Use 
of educational advantages — Occupation and earn- 
ings — Enforced idleness — Constitutional diseases — 
Crime of mothers — Lack of stamina — Keep up or 
get out of the way — Social regeneration — A prob- 
lem — In cities — Five cities — Twenty-one families in 
Washington — Income — Largest income — Negli- 
gence a cause of mortality — Charitable institutions 
— Physicians — Dispensaries — Hospitals — Intemper- 
ance a cause of mortality — Contagious and infec- 
tious diseases — Heredity — Principal factors — Pov- 
erty a cause of mortality — Mortality among children 
of the poor — Ignorance — Improper ventilation — 
General condition — Wages — Contents of a room — ■ 
Infants — Sociological condition — Savannah — Crime. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. XV 

CHAPTER XII. 

EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 

Educational Institutions — Industrial Schools — 

The Press. 

Educational Improvements. — The great end — Not in 
question — No higher duty — Knowledge not a sub- 
stitute for virtue — Color blind — Appreciating 
advantages — Civilization progressing — Education 
improves — Trained minds — Wisdom — Higher insti- 
tutions — Practicability — Thinkers — Needs of today 

— Equal opportunities — Equal political rights — 
Equal facilities and stimulus — Duty of government 
— Slavery at the bottom — Power of law — Prejudice 
— Key to problem — Not by magic spell — Education 
the best means — Good government implies intelli- 
gence — Whites must also be educated — Wealth a 
producer — Race pride — The question — Power of 
education — Public school system — Outlay of money 

— Number of institutions — Twenty-five years' 
profitable work — Practical training — Academic 
instruction — Great danger — The New England 
farmer boy — Only ineans of growth — Useful and in- 
dependent — Ainerica's prosperity — In one genera- 
tion— School population — Money expended — Illiter- 
acy of colored population — Illiteracy disappearing 

— Secondary and higher education — Teachers — 
High schools — Professions — Industrial training — 
Industrial schools — Industrial education — Advan- 
tages — Respect for labor — Leaders — Iinportance — 
Not limited mental development — Look at facts — 
Ennoblino^ labor — Hio-her forms of labor — Value of 
culture — Friction — Privileges of the law — Mistakes 
— Progress — A new nation — Primary, industrial 
and higher education — Normal schools — State 
Superintendent of Mississippi — Color — Intellect — 
One-room cabins — President Gates — Industrial 
training — Economic conditions — Mr. Brice — A col- 
ored teacher — Many sided —Effects of slavery — Poor 

and ignorant — Not left alone — Tribute to northern 



XVI TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

women — Imperishable — monuments — Opinions 
Conclusions — Evolution not Revolution — Five great 
institutions. — Address by Prof. Spence — Need and 
- fitness — No mistake — Question settled — Leaders — 
Education required — Changed condition — Meharry 
Medical College — Homes — Slave-pen — Fort — Col- 
lege — Life work — Early schools — Gen. Eaton — The 
Freedmen's bureau — Assisting agencies — American 
Missionary Association — Control and support — 
Two-fold work — Teachers — The Freedmen's Aid 
and Southern Society — Baptist Home Missionary So- 
ciety — Peabody Fund — John F. Slater Fund — 
Reflex influences — Prime need — Incidents for prob- 
lems — Civilization — Industrialism — New Problem 
— A question — Higher culture — A result not a 
cause — A new factor — Greatness comes from alti- 
tudes — Culture of human society — Heritage — Lead- 
ers — Thought that makes the world — From the 
schools — Opened to the Negro mind^Conclusions. 

Educational Institutions. — Hampton Normal and 
Agricultural Institute — Object — Annual cost — 
Value of property — Teachers and officers — Girls' 
industries — Boys' industries — Graduates — Field 
missionary — Agriculture — Outgrowth of Hampton 
— The Southern Workman — A record of its work — 
A remarkable record — Fisk University — Work of 
the alumni — Bera College — Spelman Seminary — 
Work of a generation — Beginning — Opening — Rev. 
Frank Ouarles — Second vear — Coal bin — Rocke- 
feller Hall — Giles Hall — Buildings — Enrollment — 
Success — Teachers — Influence — Prof. Holmes — 
Bishop Haygood — Nora Gordon — Clara Howard 
— Atlanta Baptist Seminary — Clark University — 
Atlanta University —Tuskegee Normal and Agri- 
cultural Institute — Georsfia State Industrial Col- 
lege — Central Tennessee College — Meharry Medi- 
cal College— Leland University — Morris Brown 
College — Southland College and Industrial Institu- 
tion — Livingston College — Howard University — 
Knoxville College — Shaw University — Roger Wil- 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. XVII 

liams University — Selma University — Tongaloo 
University — Tuskegee Conference — Roscoe C 
Bruce — Freedmen's Savings Bank — Colored press 

— Character — Able editors — Christian papers — 
First daily — First newspaper. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

RELIGION AND THE NEGRO. 

Churches and Charitable Institutions. 

A religious nature — Sustained by faith — Cheerful 
music — Noticeable fact — Harry Hosier — Genuine- 
ness — Strong characteristic — Progress phenomenal 
—Organizations — Liberality — Achievements — The 
future — Churches important — Denominations — 
Helping himself — Sums spent — Christian ministers. 

Churches. — Regular Baptist, Colored — African Meth- 
odist Episcopal — Union Methodist Episcopal — 
African Methodist Episcopal, Zion — Congregational 
Methodist, Colored — Cumberland Presbyterian, 
Colored — Sunday School LTnion of the A. M. E. 
Church. 

Charitable Institutions. — Carrie Steel Orphan Home 

— Provident Hospital — Hale Infirmary — Mrs. 
Watts' Orphanage. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Noted Personages of the Afro-American Race. 

Forerunners of Liberty. — Frederick Douglass — Wil- 
liam Still — Frances Ellen Watkins Harper. 

Educators. — Prof. W. H. Crogman, A. M. — Prof. W. 
S. Scarborough, LL. D — Principal Booker T. Wash- 
ington, A. M. — President Richard Robert Wright, 
A. M.— Prof. William E. Holmes, A. M.— Prof. 
John Wesley Gilbert, A. M.— Prof. W. E. Burg- 
hardt Dubois, Ph. D. — W. Lewis Bulkley — Lucy 
Laney — Mrs. Margaret Washington. 

Ministers. — Bishop L. H. Halse}^, D. D. — Alexander 
Crummell, D. D.— Rev. E. W. Bleyden, A. M., 
D. D., LL. D.— Bishop H. M. Turner— Bishop 



XVIII TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

B. W. Arnett — Bishop Benjamin Tucker Tanner — 
Henry Hugh Proctor — Francis J. Grimke — Bishop 
James Walker Hood — Rev. G. W. Alexander — 
James A. Davis — W. D. Bailey — James Albert 
Booker — E. R. Carter — Z. L. Pardee — James Robin- 
son Carnes — W. D. West — Bishop Daniel Payne — 
M. C. D. Mason— Paul H. Kennedy— G. V. Clark 
— W. Howard Day — Emperor Williams. 

Lawyers. — First annual meeting — Politics — No hope 
of success — Prejudice — Not all Succeed — An Oily 
Tongue — A Good Education — Earnestness and 
Enthusiasm — True to Our Native Land — History 
and Patriotism — Hon. J. T. Settle — Hon. Samuel 
McElwee — Older Members of Legal Profession — 
Colored Bar of Chicago — Lloyd G. Wheeler — Lewis 
Washington— E. H. Morris — J. W. E. Thomas — S. 
Laing Williams — Franklin A. Dennison — Miss Ida 
Piatt— Taylor G. Ewing— Alfred Menefee— J. W. 
Grant — William Richard Morris — Hon. John M. 
Langston, LL. D. — Isaac F. Bradley — B. F. Smith 
— S. J. Jenkins — Daniel M. Mason. 

Physicians. — The Colored Men in Medicine — Voodoos 
— The Contrast — Patronage — Advantages — Physi- 
cians of Today — Women — Reception by White Phy- 
sicians — Their Wealth — American Medical Associa- 
tion of Colored Physicians — Georgia Medical 
Association, Colored — Robert Fulton Boyd — Daniel 
H. Williams — Lieutenant Henry R. Butler — David 
Lee Johnson — J. B. Banks — W. A. Hadley — B. E. 
Scruggs — Ferdinand A. Stewart^T. T. Wendell — 
F. B. Coffin— J. B. Banks— Thos. A. Curtis. 

Authors, Literary Workers and Lecturers. — Paul 
Lawrence Dunbar — Mrs. F. W. E. Harper — Mrs. 
Fanny Barrier Williams — Mrs. Mary Rice Phelps 
—Mrs. M. A. McCurdy— Phyllis Wheatly— Mrs. Ida 
B. Wells Barnett — Edward E. Cooper. 

Artists. — Henry O. Tanner — Clark Hampton — Ed- 
monia Lewis. 

Miscellaneous — Authors and Books of the Race. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. XIX 

CHAPTER XV. 

Plantation Melodies — Incidents — Pleasantries. 

Hampton and its Students — Swing Low, Sweet Chariot 
— The Danville Chariot — View de Land — Oh, Yes! 
— My Lord Delivered Daniel — Nobody Knows de 
Trouble I've Seen — Hail! Hail! Hail! — Wise 
Sayings — Multtim in Parvo — Miss Anita Hemming 
— Frederick Douglass — Everything Must Go — 
Faithful Service Rewarded — The Funeral — A Lul- 
laby — When the Warm Days Come — Thanksgiv- 
ing in Dixie — Thanksgiving Turkey — A Figurative 
Prayer. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Present Standing — Outlook — Just Judgment — Then 
and Now — Education — Religion — Home — Social 
and Family Ties — Financial — Unanswerable — 
True Condition — Our Position — The Present 
Status — Leaders — Levers That Move the World — 
Warfare Against Wrong — A Hundred Men — 
Aroused to Action — Just Tribute — Characteristics 
— Unparalleled — Thought — Judge of Progress — 
Companionship — Confusion — Marvel of Ages — 
Handsome — Gratitude — Very Creditable — Merit- 
orious Conduct — The Future — Perished — Race 
Prejudice — Two-fold — Advancement — Conclusion 
— Evangelization — Possibilities — Ability — Must 
Be Recognized — Our Passport — Hopeful and 
Cheerful Spirit — Be Charitable to the South — 
Ever Courageous — Two Generations — Bishop 
Duncan — Not in Congress — Not Imaginary, but 
Real. 

CHAPTER XVIL 

Statistics of the Race. 

Area and Population of the World — Population of the 
Negro in the United States — Voting Population — 
Population of Census Years — Conjugal Conditions 
of Persons of Negro Descent — Illiterate Population 



XX TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

of Negroes — Ownership of Farms and Homes — 
Tenants — Summary — Distribution of the Negro 
Race — Negroes in Cities — Negroes in the Slave 
States — Conjugal Condition — Mortality — Crimi- 
nality — Paupers — Illiteracy and Education — Sum- 
mary — Colored Physicians — Common School En- 
rollment in Sixteen Former Slave States — Schools 
for the Education of the Colored Race — Baptists 
— Methodist Episcopal — United Presbyterian — 
Episcopal — African Methodist Episcopal — Chris- 
tians — Presbyterians — Friends — Roman Catholic 
— Congregational — Non Sectarian — Crime — Paup- 
erism — Benevolence — Negroes in All Occupations 
— Illiterates in All Occupations — Population for 
^ Cities Having Fifty Thousand or More Inhabitants 
— White and Colored Population by Counties in 
All Southern States. 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 



Page. 

Academic Instruction 318 

Advancement 248 

Africa for Negroes 32 

Africa's Future 41 

African Union M. P. Church 433 

Alexander, Rev. W. G 5(i5 

Amanda Smith Orphan Home.. 440 

America's Prosperity 3~1 

A. M. E. Church 428 

A. M. E. Zion Church 4;j(> 

Am. Missionary Association 3r>(} 

A. M. Sunday School Union 434 

Amusements 2UJ> 

A New Nation 338 

Anti-Slavery Agitation 83 

Anti-Slavery Orators 92 

Anti-Slavery Societies 86 

Anti-Slavery Women 91 

Area of World 023 

A Religious Nature 417 

Aristocracy . 221 

Armstrong, Gen. S. C. . , 138 

Arnett, Bishop B. W 5(10 

A Stitch in Time 600 

Atlanta Baptist Seminary. . .382, 383 

Atlanta's Representatives 2.51 

Atlanta University 386 

Attucks, Crispus 70, 72 

Authors and Literary Workers. . ^50 

Balay, Rev. W. D .507 

Banks, Dr. J. B ,557 

Baptist Missionary Society 859 

Barnett, Mrs. Ida B.Wells 509 

Bates, Lewis 276 

Berea College 373 

Biddle Univer.^ity 407 

Big Bethel Church, Atlanta 423 

Bishop Duncan 021 

Bishop Gaines on Lynching 171 

Bishop Harris' Daughter 156 

Blood Hounds, Encounter witli.. 133 

Blyden, Rev. E. W 498 

Booker, Rev. Joseph A 508 

P.owen, Prof. J W. E., 142, 185, 195, 550 

Bowen, Mrs. T- W. E 203 

Boyd, Dr. R. F 546 

Bradley, I. F 538 

Brown, Henry Box 108 

Brown, John 97 

Uruce, B. K .577 

Bruce, Roscoe C 412 

Bulkley, Prof. Wm. L 491 

Business Education 244 

Butler, Gen 126 

Butler, Dr. H. R 550 

Capt. Callioux 131 

Captives Left to Their Fate 08 

Carnes. Rev J. R 510 



Page." 

Carney, Sergt. Wm. H 129 

Carter, Rev. E. R .508 

Carver Prof Geo. W .5.58a 

Cause of Mortality 286, 288, 290 

Central Tenn. College ;j95 

Chaplain, W. L idO 

Charitable Institutions 287 

Chemistry Class ;^00 

Children of School Age 023 

Christian Ministry 425 

Christmas Scene ,586 

Civilization Progressing ,302 

Clark, Rev. G. V 513 

Clark University 383 

Coffin, F. M 555 

Coffin, Levi 100 

Color Blind 301 

Color-Intellect 340 

Color Theory 26 

Colored Authors .577 

Colored Bar of Chicago .530 

Colored Bar of Nashville 5-30 

Colored Churches 275, 424 

Colored Man in Medicine ,541 

Colored M. E. Ch urch 431 

Colored Patentees 183 

Colored Press 414 

Colored Woman of Today 191 

Colored Women Associates. .192, 223 

Conflict in a Barn 104 

Congregational Methodist 433 

Conjugal Condition 02<i, 031 

Conklin, Seth 114 

Constitutional Diseases 281 

Cooper, E E 569 

Council. Prof. W. H 2.57, 2.58 

Cotton States Expositidii 208 

Craft, Wm and Ellen 113 

Crime 297 

Crime of Mothers 281 

Criminals 182 

Criminality 031, 036 

Crogman, Prof. W. H 407 

Cross Road Grocery 173 

Crummell, Rev. Alex 301, 496 

Culture, Value of 3,34 

Cumberland Presbyterians 433 

Curtis, Thos. A 558 

Danville Chariot 585 

Dat Thanksgivin' Turkey ....... 602 

Davis, Rev. A. G 272 

Davis, Rev. James A .507 

Day, Rev. W. H 513 

Deaths 280 

Defects 225 

Dennison, F. A 533 

Denominations 424 

Deportation 32 

Difficulties 212 



XXI 



XXII 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 



Page. 

Dignity of Labor 239 

Discrimination in Pay 124 

Disease, Contagious 289 

Douglass, Fred'k 141, 447, 448, 594 

Douglass' Mother 197 

Dress 210 

Drink Trafifac 37 

Dubois, W. E. B 490 

Dunbar, Paul Lawrence 559 

Duty of Government 308 

Earnings 279 

Early Schools 355 

Earnestness 518 

Eaton, Gen 355 

Economic Condition 343 

Education 310, 605, 033 

Educators 467 

Educational Improvement 299 

Educational Institutions 367, 637 

Emancipation of Slaves 69 

Encouraged 276 

Enlistment 117 

Equal to Emergency 593 

Etniopia 461 

Evolution, Revolution 348 

Ewing, Taylor G 534 

Ex-Slaves 45, 46, 48 

Evils of Alcohol 178 

Fairbanks, Calvin 99 

Farms and Homes 627 

Fidelity of the Negro ,. . 36 

Figurative Prayer 602 

Financial Growth 271 

First Congregational Church, 

Atlanta 432 

First Newspaper 416 

Fisk University 354, 371 

Fitzbutler, Dr. H 554 

Fitzbutler, Dr. Sarah 556 

Five Great Institutions 348 

Forerunners of Liberty 447 

Forest Home 254 

Fort Wagner 128 

Freedman's Aid Society 358 

Freedman's Bureau 356 

Freedman's Savings Bank 413 

Freedom 165 

Friction 335 

Fugitive Slave Laws 99 

Fur; <^ss, Wm. H 297 

Gammo. Theological Students. . 362 

Garrett, 'i "os 100 

Garrison, V\ "i, Lloyd 85 

Georgia State 'College 392 

Girl's Industrial ''-chool 298 

Givens, Miss L. V.- a 577 

Good Government 310 

Gordon, Nora A 380 

Grand Children of Slaves 60 

Grant, Gen. and Guard 121 

Grant, J. W 535 

Great Danger 318 

Greener, Richard T 576 

Grimke, Rev. F. K 503 



Grimke, Mrs. C. F. 



Page. 
... 575 



Hadley, Dr. W, A 

Hale Infirmary 

Hamilton, Alex 

Hampton, Clark 

Hampton Institute 

Hampton Students 233, 

Hapgood, Bishop 

Harper, Mrs. F. E. W....215, 460, 

Harris, Bishop C. R 

Heathens 

Heathen Africa 

Hemming, Miss Anita 

Heredity 221 , 

Heroism of the Negro 

Higher Culture 

Higher Education 247, 

Higher Institutions 303, 

High Schools 

Histori-- of the Race 

Holmes, Prof. W. E 379, 

Holsey, Bishop L. H 

Homes 210, 216, 228, 279, 353, 

Hood, Bishop J. W 

Hope and Progress 

Hopkins, Prof. M. A 

Hospitals 

How to Win 

Howard, Clara 

Howard University 

Humane Masters 

Hunter, Gen 



553 
441 
257 
573 
366 
583 
381 
563 
504 
146 
167 
592 
289 

79 
363 
325 
637 
320 

23 
480 
494 
606 
503 
238 
577 
288 
208 
381 
402 
147 
118 



Ideals of Negro 29 

Ignorance 292 

Ignorance — Poverty 149 

Illiteracy 323, 632, 645 

Industrial Education 327 

Industrial Schools 213, 326 

Industrial Training 341 

Insurrections 57 

Jenkins, S. J 540 

Johnson, Gen. Edw 137 

Johnstone, D. L 552 

Jones, Wm 107 

Jubilee Singers 387 

Kennedy, Rev. Paul 512 

Kidnapping 50 

King, W. E 577 

Knowledge Not a Substitute 301 

Knoxville University 404 

Labor, Respect for 829, 333 

Laney, Miss Lucy 487 

Langston, Hon. J. M 537 

Lawyers 515 

Leaders 351, 365, 608 

Left to Their Fate 68 

Leland University 324, 398 

Lewis, Edmonia 574 

Lewis, Rev. W. A 575 

Levers That Move the World.. . 609 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 



XXIII 



Page. 

Liberia • 38 

Liberality 421 

Lincoln, Abraham 116, 127 

'Lincoln and a Slave Trader 52 

Literary Workers 213 

Livingstone, Col 402 

Logan, Senator 155 

Lucas, Rev. W. W 162 

Luckie, Prof. C. W 490 

Lullaby 599 

Lundy, Benjamin »4 

Major Jeffrey - '^ 

Many Sided 344 

Marching Slaves to Coast 42 

Marriage 217 

Marvel of Ages 614 

Mason, Daniel M 540 

Mason, Rev. M. C D 511 

McCurdy, Mrs. M. A 208, 568 

McElwee, Hon. Sam'l 524 

McKinley, Jacob 275 

McKinney, T- W 575 

Means of Growth -519 

Medical Associations 545 

Meharry Medical College 355i, 396 

Menef ee, Albert 535 

Ministers 494 

Mistakes 3o7 

Mitchell, Pres. E. C 401 

Michell, John 575 

Moody, Mr 597 

Moral Improvement 151, 232 

Mortality 631 

Monuments, Imperishable 346 

Morris, Rev. E. C 437 

Morris, E. H 532 

Morris, W. R 536 

Morris Brown College 314, 401 

Mortality 279 

Mortality of Five Cities 285 

Mortgaged Property 273 

Mother's Congress 226 

Mrs. Watts' Orphanage. 443 

Murray, T L 320 

Myers, Rev. Cyrus 576 

Napier, Hon. T. C 526, 527 

Nashvile Exhibit 269 

Need and Fitness 349 

Needs of Today 304 

Negro Farmer's Cabin 235 

Negro Homes 161 

Negro in Civil War 117 

Negro in Revolution 71 

Negro Immoralities 152 

Negro Labor 241 

Negro in Politics 277 

Negro Soldiers 81 

Negroes in Present Service 139 

Negroes in Slave States 629 

Negroes, Where Found 37 

Normal Schools 339 

Norman, M. W. D., D.D 439 

Not in Color 189 

Occupation 280, 627, G43 

On Picket Duty 125 



Page. 

One Room Cabins 340 

Opportunities, Equal 305 

Pardee, Rev. Z. T 509 

Parker, Rev. E. R 508 

Parker Model Home 245 

Paupers 632, 636 

Payne, Bishop Daniel 510 

Peabodv Fund 359 

Pensioning Old and Feeble 

Slaves 67 

Phelps, Mrs. Mary Rice.. 192, 197, 566 

Phillips, Wendel 88 

Physicians 287, 633 

Physicians of Today 544 

Physical Characteristics 35 

Picking Cotton 243 

Plantation Melodies 583 

Piatt, Miss Ida 534 

Political Rights, Equal see 307 

Port Hudson 130 

Possibilities 212, 618 

Population of World 623 

Population of United States 623 

Population of Each State 624 

Population, Voting Ages 625 

Population, Census Years 626 

Population of Cities 645 

Population of Counties 647 

Powell, Bartow P 263 

Power of Education 315 

Practicability 304 

Practical Education 246 

Praise and Flattery 321 

Prejudice. 184, 307 

Present Standing and Outlook.. 605 

Price, Pres. J. C 484 

Primary Education 339 

Prime Need of Negro 361 

Proctor, Rev. H. H 501 

Proctor and Associates 180 

Professions 182, 213, 326 

Profitable Work 317 

Progress 225, 338 

Progressive Age 231 

Progress in Industries 229 

Progress Phenomenal 420 

Progress Since Freedom 186 

Provident Hospital 194,440, 442 

Public School System 316 

Quarles, Rev. Frank 375 

Race Prejudice 616 

Race Pride , 231, 313 

Race Problem 313 

Rankin, John 100 

Rape , 165 

Re-enslavement "T? 

Redmond, C. L 576 

Regular Baptists' (Colored) 

Church 426 

Religion and the Negro 417, 606 

Residence of Alex. Hamilton 2.30 

Residence of Albert Nash 240 

Residence of John T. Schell 253 



XXIV 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 



Page. 

Roger Williams University 405 

Rucker, Henry A 259 

Ruined Manhood 219 

Sanders, Pres. D. J 342 

Scarborough, Prof. W. S 473 

Schell, John T 257 

School Population 322 

School Statistics 637 

Scruggs, Dr. B. E 553 

Selma University 404 

Settle, Hon. J. T 520, .521 

Shame of a Christian Nation l'(5 

Shaw, Col 127 

Shaw University 404 

Sierre Leone 39 

Slater Fund 359 

Slave Pen, Fort, College 353 

Slave Breeding States ^. . 65 

Slave Population 71, 115 

Slaves of Slaves 46 

Slave Trade in Portugal 48 

Slave Trade Horrors 50 

Slavery 43 

Slavery in Colonies 58 

Slavery a Curse 53 

Slavery in U. S 49, 55 

Slavery Degrading 54 

Slavery Not Justified 54 

Slavery, Effects 345 

Slavery at the Bottom 308 

Slavery's Legacy 161 

Smith, B. S 539 

Smith, H. C 574 

Smith, Amanda Ill, 445, 575 

Social Regeneration 283 

Social Purity 213 

Sources of Slavery 44 

Southland College 400 

Spelman Seminary 375 

Spelman Students 376 

Spence, Prof. A. K 349 

Stewart, Dr. F. A 554 

Stewart, Gilchrist 2.5G 

Still, Wm 103, 452 

Still, Charity Ill 

Stowe, Harriett BeecluT 93, 94 

Stroke for Freedom 108 

Sumner, Chas 91 

Swing, Low, Sweet Chariot 585 

Tanner, Henry 571 

Tanner, Bishop B. T 418, .500 

Taylor, Robt. Thos 275 

Temperance Increasing 172 

Temperance Resolutions 176 

Tenants 628 

Thankful Baptist Church 427 

Thanksgiving in Dixie 601 



Page. 

The Negro in the Revolution 71 

The Dying Bondman 564 

The Funeral 597 

The Future 615 

Then and Now 605 

Thomas, Gen. L 135 

Thomas, J. W. E 532 

Thought Makes the World 365 

Thought G13 

Thrift and Industry 232 

Tobacco a Poison 179 

Tougaloo University 405 

Trained Minds SOU 

Trained Nurses, Spelman 332 

True to Native Land 520 

Turner, Bishop H. M 498 

Tuskegee Conference 408 

Tuskegee Institute 388 

Tuskegee Saw Mill Men 240 

Twenty Years' Improvement... 158 

Uncle Ben 291 

Uncle Tom's Cabin 57 

Underground Railroad 102 

View de Land 587 

Voodoos 541 

Wages 295 

Walker, Capt. Jonathan 100 

Walker , Rev. Thos. H. B 402a 

Walker, Rev. Chas. T 582a 

Washington, Booker T 4, 328, 475 

Washington, Mrs. Margaret. 223, 480 

Washington, Lewis 532 

Watching the Parade 294 

Wealth Producer 312 

Wealthy ]\Ien 271, 273 

Wendell, D. T 554 

West, Rev. W. B 510 

Wheatley, Phyllis 565 

Wheeler, Lloyd G 531 

When de Co'n Pone's Hot 603 

When the Warm Days Come 601 

Whites Educated as Well 311 

Williams, Dr. D. H 548 

Williams, Mrs. Fannie Barrier.. 

203, 568 

Williams, S. Laing 533 

Williams, Rev. E 514 

Wilson, Henry 96 

Wise Sayings 591 

Womanhood 191 

Womanhood Insulted 195 

Woman a Teacher 197 

Woman in Temperance 177 

Women, Tribute to 346 

Worth of Property 250 

Wright, Pres. R. R 149, 393, 477 

Yates, Gov 124 



CHAPTER I. 



HISTORY OF THE RACE. 



Unity of the Race. — Attempts have been made in 
the past to prove that the Negro is not a human being. 
In this age of the world such a preposterous idea does 
not receive countenance. The remarkable progress of 
the Negro and the rapid disappearing of race malice ? 
and prejudice, have made this theory so absurd that 
to-day no one can be found to advocate it. It is, how- 
ever, to be noted that as late as 1868 a minister of the 
South advocated this theory. Arguing from this stand- 
point he says, "Half an eye tells us the fate of the 
Negro on this continent is fixed, his doom is irrevocably 
sealed, he is out of his natural condition to which he 
aspires. If he is separated from 7nan he sinks speedily 
to savage cannibalism. Men cannot refute the fixed 
decree of Omnipotence; nothing but the power of God 
can save the Nee'ro from extinction. Four millions of 
blacks are doomed to extinction. The history of the 
Negro proves that he does not, never did possess, a self- 
directing, independent mind. The white man regards 
him as a natural, lawful slave, the Negro adinits the 
fact and instinctively seeks the condition of slavery to 
man, ' ' 

Of One Blood. — Why should we here refer to this 
theory so absurd and contradictory to all history? 
Not that we place any confidence in any of the argu- 
ments, nor that we will refute the arguments, they 
need no refutation ; but that ihe young man of to-day, 
who is an American citizen, may know something of 
the tendency of the times when slavery existed. 

23 



24 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

To-day the universal belief is that God "Created of 
one blood all nations of man to dwell on the face of 
the earth. ' ' The unity of the race is demonstrated 
with emphasis in the possible and actual assimilation of 
all the races in the one man, and is distinctly shown in 
the personalities and careers of men like Benjamin 
Banneker, Frederick Douglass, and Alexander Dumas. 

No Inferior Races. — God did not create an inferior 
race ; there are races with inferior conditions, and these 
may be black or white, but, says Dr. Blyden, "There 
is no absolute or essential superiority on the one side, 
nor absolute or essential inferiority on the other. 
Man is a unity in the plan of salvation. No man is too 
inferior to be saved. In all the wondrous work of 
creation the making of man is God's crowning act, and 
whoever has His image has infallible credentials of his 
high origin and sonship. Man is our universal repre- 
sentative head and from him all peoples sprung. God 
never made a superior race nor an inferior one ; and 
there is nothing in the heavens above, nor in the earth 
beneath, that can substantiate any such doctrine, 
"For God hath made of one blood all nations of men 
to dwell upon the face of the earth. ' ' 

The Curse Theory. — Failing to establish the theory 
that the Negro is not a human being, we find an attempt 
on the part of those who would have held the Negro in 
perpetual slavery to show that he belongs to an inferior 
race. That against him an irrevocable curse has been 
pronounced. But the remarkable advancement of the 
race in all lines of activity has dispelled even the 
doubts of those who "hoped against hope" that this 
might be the case, and has scattered the mists of 
unbelief that rose above the horizon of a few of the 
Anglo-Saxon race. 



HISTORY OF THE RACE. 25 

Base of Arguments. — Such arguments are based 
upon passages of the scripture in which Noah cursed 
Canaan in these words: "Cursed be Canaan, a ser- 
vant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. Blessed 
be the Lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his 
servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell 
in the tents of Shem and Canaan shall be his servant. ' ' 
If this were a prophecy then the argument might have 
some weight, but it is considered a prophecy only by a 
very few writers, and these are those who would sub- 
stantiate preconceived opinions thereby. The best 
evidence of a prophecy is its fulfillment. This state- 
ment was never fulfilled either in the case of Canaan, 
whose descendants have often conquered and been 
among the powerful nations of olden times, nor of 
Shem and Japheth, whose descendants were frequently 
enslaved. The Hebrews were in bondage in Egypt 
for centuries, they were the descendants of Shem; 
Egypt was peopled by the Children of Ham. 

The Proper Interpretation. — We have neither incli- 
nation nor time to spend on extended argument against 
this theory so contradictory to all facts revealed by 
the light of true history and now no longer a question 
of debate, and yet a statement is necessary for the 
information of the youth who knows nothing of slavery, 
and the arguments and the attempts to hold in per- 
petual bondage a race destined to play an important 
part in the civilization and Christianization of the 
world. Noah was once a preacher of righteousness, 
but he afterward became drunk on the wine that he 
made. The exposure to which he was subjected by his 
drunken condition caused him in his irritable and self- 
defensive mood to utter these words, which cannot in 
any sense be prophetic. The best argument against 



26 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

this theory is the remarkable progress of the race and 
the moral and intellectual condition of the best of the 
race in these closing years of the nineteenth century. 

Josephus says: "The children of Ham possessed 
the land from Syria to Amanus, and the mountains of 
Libanus, seizing upon all the maritime ports and keep- 
ing them as their own. Of the four sons of Ham, time 
has not at all hurt the name of Cush, for the Ethiopians 
over whom he reigned are even at this day, both by 
themselves and by all men in Asia, called Cushites. " 

Herodotus. — Herodotus states that Cambyses at- 
tempted to conquer Ethiopia but failed. He succeeded 
in conquering Egypt, but he found the Ethiopian equal 
to the Egyptian in refinement and intelligence and 
superior in military skill. Cambyses attempted, by 
means of spies and by means of various designs, to 
entrap and enslave the Ethiopian, but was forct. 
return to Egypt with but a remnant of his army. 

The Case Stated.— Rev. Norman Wood puts it ffius: 
"Whereas, Noah got drunk and cursed Canaan, an 
innocent party; and whereas, this curse was never 
fulfilled; therefore, all to whom these presents may 
come, greeting: Pagan, infidel, or pirate, are hereby 
empowered to kidnap and to enslave all the sable 
Africans who are descendants from Cush. We are here 
reminded of the statement of Liliuokalani, the recent 
dethroned queen of Hawaii, that the best blood of the 
English flowed in her veins, because her grandfather 
devoured Captain Cook." 

The Color Theory. — Another argument in support 
of the curse of Noah is the color of the African. This 
argument also fails utterly when we take into account 
the climatic influence. Climate, and climate alone, is 
the sole cause. The predominant color of the inhabit- 



HISTORY OF THE RACE. 27 

ants of the tropical regions of Asia and Africa is black, 
while the whites are found in the temperate and cold 
regions. We see and admit the change which a few 
years produce in the complexion of a Caucasian going 
from our northern latitude into the tropics. If a few 
years make such great changes why shall we hesitate 
to recognize the changes of centuries and ages? 

Plants and Animals. — There is perhaps no better 
evidence of the influence of climate upon man than to 
witness its effects upon plants and animals. The flowers 
of the north are almost invariably white, while the 
arctic rabbit is spotless white, and the fox and polar 
bear are either white or pale yellow. The lack of color 
in the northern regions of animals which possess color 
in more temperate regions can be attributed only to 
change of climate. The common bear is differently 
colored in different regions. The dog loses its coat in 
'ica, and has a smooth skin. 

Gradations of Color. — Let us survey the gradations 
of color on the continent of Africa itself. The inhabit- 
ants of the north are whitest; and, as we advance 
southwards towards the line, we find in those countries 
in which the sun's rays fall more perpendicularly, the 
complexion gradually assumes a darker shade. And 
the same men whose color has been rendered black by 
the powerful influence of the sun, if they remove to 
the north, gradually become white (I mean their pos- 
terity), and eventually lose their dark color. T NT*:1?A'' 

Caucasians. — The Portuguese, who planted them- 
selves on the coast of Africa a few centuries ago, have 
been succeeded by descendants blacker than many 
Africans. On the coast of Malabar there are two 
colonies of Jews, the old colony and the new, separated 

3 Progress. 



28 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

by color and known as the "black Jews" and the 
"white Jews." 

The old colony are the black Jews, and have been 
longer subjected to the influence of the climate. The 
hair of the black Jews is curly, showing a resemblance 
to the Negro. The white Jews are as dark as the 
Gypsies, and each generation is growing darker. 

Dr. Livingstone say^: "I was struck vdth the 
appearance of the people in Londa and the neighbor- 
hood; they seemed more slender in form and their 
color a lighter olive than any we had hitherto met. " 

Lower down the Zambesi, the same writer says: 
"Most of the men are muscular, and have large, 
ploughman hands. Their color is the same admixture, 
from very dark to light olive, that we saw in Londa. ' ' 

Equator to Polar Circles. — Under the equator we 
have the deep black of the Negro, then the copper or 
olive of the Moors of northern Africa ; then the Span- 
iards and Italian, swarthy compared with other Euro- 
peans ; the French, still darker than the English, while 
the fair and florid complexion of England and Germany 
passes more northerly into the bleached Scandinavian 
white. 

From Inland to Coast. — As we go westward we ob- 
serve the light color predominating over the dark ; and 
then, again, when we come within the influence of the 
dampness from the sea air, we find the shade deepened 
into the general blackness of the coast population." 

If these opinions, given by the best authorities, mean 
anything, and if we shall credit them as having any 
value, then the color line can be drawn only where 
there is deep-seated prejudice. 

Black, a Mark of Reproach. — Prof. Johnson, in his 
school history, justly says: "Black is no mark of re- 



HISTORY OF THE RACE. 29 

proach to people who do not worship white. The West 
Indians in the interior represent the devil as white. 
The American Indians make fun of the 'pale face' and 
so does the native African. People in this country have 
been educated to believe in w^hite because all that is 
good has been ascribed to the white race, both in pic- 
tures and words. God, the angels and all the prophets 
are pictured white, and the devil is represented as 
black. ' ' 

Ideals of Negro. — The ideals of the Negro are the 
ideals of the white man. The two races are both edu- 
cated to one standard, that is, the white man's 
standard. While the white man would have the Negro 
adopt his standard, at the same time there are those 
who would repel him ; somewhat like putting on steam 
and throttling the valve. True manhood knows no 
color. While the ideals are the same, the standards 
the same, let all, black and white, aim to attain to a 
virtuous manhood that would impress itself upon 
mankind and make men more and more to see the 
ideals shine out in the lives of all true leaders. 

God Knows Best. — George Williams says: "It is 
safe to say that when God dispersed the sons of Noah 
he fixed the 'bounds of their habitation,' and that 
from the earth and sky the various races have secured 
their civilization. He sent the different nations into 
separate parts of the earth. He gave to each its racial 
peculiarities and adaptability for the climate into which 
it went. He gave color, language, and civilization; 
and, when by wisdom we fail to interpret his 
inscrutable ways, it is pleasant to know that 'he work- 
eth all things after the counsel of his own mind.' " 

Antiquity. — It is difficult to find a writer on ethnol- 
ogy or Egyptology who doubts the antiquity of the 



30 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Negroes as a distinct people from the dawn of history- 
down to the present time. They are known as dis- 
tinctly as any of the other families of men. Negroes 
are represented in Egyptian paintings. They formed 
the strength of the army of the King of Egypt. They 
came against the King of Rehoboam as well as the 
armies of Sesostris and Xerxes. 

John P. Jefferis, who is not friendly to the Negro, 
in his criticism nevertheless makes this statement: 
"Every rational mind must readily conclude that the 
African race has been in existence as a distinct people 
over four thousand two hundred years, and how 
long before that period is a matter of conjecture onl5r 
there being no reliable data on which to predict a 
reliable opinion. ' ' 

Further Evidence. — Further evidence in favor of 
the antiquity of the Negro is found in Japan and East- 
ern Asia. In these large, magnificent temples, hoary 
with age, are found idols that are exact representations 
of woolly-headed Negroes; other inhabitants of the 
country have straight hair. But why accumulate evi- 
dence, when monuments, temples and pyramids rise 
up to declare the antiquity of the Negro race? 

The Word Negro. — The word Negro is a name given 
to a considerable branch of the human family possess- 
ing certain physical characteristics which distinguish, it 
in a very marked degree from the other branches or 
varieties of mankind. "It is not wise," says George 
Williams, "for intelligent Negroes in America to seek 
to drop the word 'Negro.' It is a good, strong and 
healthy word, and ought to live. It should be covered 
with glory; let Negroes do it. " • 

The Term Negro. — The term, Negro, is properly 
applied to the races inhabiting that part of Africa lying 




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O 

I— I 

Pi 
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W 
W 

o 

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3*J PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

between latitude lo degrees north and 20 degrees 
south and to their descendants in the old and new 
world. It does not include the Egyptians, Berbers, 
Abyssinians, Hottentots, Nubians, etc., although in 
some writings it comprises these and other dark- 
skinned nations. One characteristic, however, the 
crisp hair, belongs only to the true Negro. 

Africa for the Negroes. — Centuries of effort and 
centuries of corresponding failure have fully demon- 
strated that the white man cannot colonize the largest 
part of the great continent of Africa. It seems that, in 
the providence of God, this great and glorious conti- 
nent is chiefly for the colored races, and especially for 
the Negro. Is it not possible that this great continent 
with its millions of Negroes occupying the most fertile 
portions, and in all more than one-half of the conti- 
nent, is to be enlightened, civilized and Christianized 
by the American Negro? 

Deportation, — Let it not be understood that the pre- 
ceding paragraph argues in favor of deportation of the 
American Negro to Africa. This is impossible, but 
that the American Negro has a part in the elevation of 
the black brother of the dark continent is as true as 
that the Caucasian of America has a part in the Chris- 
tianization of the white race in other parts of the 
world. The Negro is better adapted to the climate 
and can endure the hardships of mission work in Africa 
much better than the Caucasian. 

Not Well Considered. — Booker T. Washington says : 
"I recall that a few months ago, when, on the occasion 
of six hundred deluded colored people sailing from 
Savannah for Liberia, some of the newspapers and not 
a few of the magazines gravely announced to an 
expectant people that the race problem was in process 



HISTORY OF THE RACE. 33 

of solving itself. These newspapers and magazine 
writers did not take into consideration the important 
fact that perhaps before breakfast that same morning 
six hundred colored babies were born. I have a friend 
down in Georgia whose unfailing solution of the race 
problem is, that the Negro should be cooped up in some 
place, surrounded by a high fence, and kept separate 
from the whites. That would not even reach the dig- 
nity of touching the question, since it would be utterly 
impossible to keep the blacks inside the fence to say 
nothing of the impossible task of keeping the whites 
outside of it. If the Negroes were fenced in Africa 
the white men would break in at the first cry that gold 
existed in the inhabited territory. Besides, the Negro 
has never yet been able to exile himself to any 
place tjie white man would not follow him and break 
in.''^"^ 

Separation would Not Relieve, — "Talks for the 
Times" says: "If such a separation were even pos- 
sible, are we simple enough to believe that that would 
relieve us of the presence of the white man? He who 
is scouring the seas, dredging the oceans, tunneling 
the mountains, boring his way into the frozen regions 
of the North, parceling out the continent of Africa, and 
giving civilization and laws to its tribes — it is not 
likely, I say, that this restless, energetic white brother 
will respect the boundary line of a state or territory at 
home ; he has not done so in reference to the Indian ; he 
would never do so in reference to us. Were it possible 
for us to go off to-morrow to some territory by our- 
selves, within a week the Connecticut Yankee would be 
there peddling his wooden nutmegs. The patent medi- 
cine man would be there selling his nostrums. The 
Georgia Cracker and the Kentucky horse-trader would 



34 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

be there with their horses and mules. The Southern 
white man would especially be there, for he has been 
so accustomed to us from his, childhood that he does 
not feel at home without us, although sometimes, in 
the heat of political excitement, he wishes we were in 
Africa or a warmer place. ' ' 

Not Possible. — Judge Gunby says: "The favorite 
remedy for the race problem with some has come to be 
the deportation of the Negroes. I am prepared to say 
with the utmost confidence that this remedy does not 
meet with general approval, although it is fair to con- 
cede that it has many able advocates. The Negroes do 
not desire to leave and the great majority of the whites 
do not want them to go. The enforced removal of the 
Negroes would be unnatural and unjust ; cruel, bitter 
cruel, would be the task of tearing Negroes from their 
genial Southern homes, their Southern friends, their 
churches, their graveyards, and the haunts they love so 
well. Sadder than the melancholy processions that 
moved to the shore from Goldsmith's 'Deserted Vil- 
lage, ' sadder than the doomed band of Acadian farm- 
ers that looked for the last time on their burning homes 
in Grand Pre, would be the final movement of the 
Negroes from the South. It would be worse than slav- 
ery ; for the Negroes in a colony of their own would 
degenerate and speedily lose the civilization they have 
derived from contact with the whites. Such a crime 
would never be forgiven. It would raise a protest from 
whites and blacks alike and from an indignant world. 
The very stones would rise up and cry against it. 
Deportation is not conceivable ; because, although a few 
might be transported to Africa or scattered elsewhere, 
yet reproduction will increase their number in spite of 
such trifling methods, and our only way to get rid of 



HISTORY OF THE RACE. 35 

their presence in the country is to kill them — which 
would be difficult, for many of them already have 
guns. ' ' 

Points of Superiority. — A certain writer says that 
the Negro has less nervous sensibility than the white, 
and is not subject to nervous afflictions. He is com- 
paratively insensible to pain, bearing severe surgical 
operations well; he seldom has a fetid breath, but 
transpires much excrementious matter by means of 
glands of the skin, whose odorous secretion is well 
known. His skin is soft, and his silky hair, though called 
wool, does not present the characteristics of wool, and 
differs but little from that of other races except in 
color and in its curly and twisted form. He flourishes 
under the fiercest heat and unhealthy dampness of the 
tropics where the white man soon dies. 

Physical Characteristics. — The physical characteris- 
tics of the black, or Negro, race are: A large and 
strong skeleton, long and thick skull, projecting jaws, 
skin from dark brown to black, woolly hair, thick lips, 
flat nose and wide nostrils. The typical color of the 
race is not coal black but the dark brown of a horse- 
chestnut. Observation shows that the darkest speci- 
mens are found on the borders where Negroes have 
been in contact with lighter races, while in the popu- 
lation of the Congo basin, which has been almost com- 
pletely free from mixture, the dark-brown type pre- 
vails. It should, however, be understood, that there 
is as great a difference among Negroes as among 
Caucasians. 

Distinguishing Traits. — The Africans, as a race, are 
passionately fond of music and have many ingeniously 
contrived musical instruments. While some of their 
inventions may have been borrowed from other people, 



36 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

it is a well established fact that they are the inventors 
of an ingenious musical instrument. They have a keen 
sense of the ridiculous and are of a cheerful disposi- 
tion. They are naturally kind hearted aad hospitable 
to strangers and are generally ready to receive instruc- 
tion and to profit by it. They are quick to perceive 
the beauty of goodness and hence they generally 
appreciate the services of missionaries in their behalf, 
and, but for the curse of intoxicating drinks brought 
upon them by unscrupulous white traders, the dark 
continent would shine more brightly with the light of 
Him who is the light of the world. 

Fidelity of the Negro. — During the Civil war the 
fidelity of the negro was tested to a most remarkable 
degree; and he stood the test. Nearly all able-bodied 
men of the South were in the Confederate army. Only 
helpless women and children, and old or disabled men 
were left with the slaves to care for the plantation 
houses. While the white-faced "Copperhead" of the 
North was aiding the South, the black-faced slave was 
caring for the helpless ones in Southern houses. 
Strange as it may seem, these same colored men knew 
that victory for the Union meant freedom for them- 
selves. General Sherman, in describing his first day's 
experience on his famous "March to the Sea," says: 
"The negroes were simply frantic with joy. When- 
ever they heard my name, they clustered about my 
horse, shouting and praying in their peculiar style, 
which had a natural eloquence that would move a 
stone. I have witnessed hundreds, if not thousands, 
of such scenes. * * * 

"We made our bivouac, and 1 walked up to a plan- 
tation house close by, where were assembled many 
negroes, among them an old, gray-haired man, of as 



HISTORY OF THE RACE. 37 

fine a head as I ever saw. I asked him if he under- 
stood about the war and its progress. He said he did; 
that he had been looking for the 'angel of the Lord' 
ever since he was knee-high, and, though we profess 
to be fighting for the Union, he supposed that slavery- 
was the cause, and that our success was to be his free- 
dom. I asked him if all the negro slaves compre- 
hended this fact, and he said they surely did." 

Every Union soldier escaping from Confederate 
prison-pen, knew that it was safe to make himself 
known to a colored man. No Union soldier ever 
asked in vain for help from his dusky brother. 

Drink Traffic. — The drink traffic carried on by civil- 
ized nations in Africa is the curse of millions. The 
same ship that carries missionaries to its shores carries 
thousands of gallons of rum that does more to degrade 
the helpless and ignorant Negro than many mission- 
aries through a lifetime can succeed in winning to a 
better life. Let it be known that the Christian (?) 
nations, Great Britain and the United States, are lead- 
ers in this degrading and soul destroying business. 
This can be permitted only where dollars and the greed 
of gain surpass in estimation the worth of true man- 
hood and of immortal souls. 

Ingenuity. — The African Negroes display consider- 
able ingenuity in the manufacture of weapons, in the 
working of iron, in the weaving of mats, cloth and 
baskets from dyed grasses, in the dressing of the skins 
of animals, in the structure of their huts and household 
utensils and in the various implements and objects of 
use in a barbarous state of society. 

In Other Continents. — In addition to Africa, Negroes 
are found in the United States, Brazil, West Indies, 
Peru, Arabia and the Cape Verd Islands. They are 



38 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

rare in Europe and the islands of the Pacific. Africa 
is, however, the native home of the Negro. Whenever 
he is found outside of this great continent it is because 
he has been carried away and subjected to slavery. 

Unknown to Hebrews. — Negroes were almost un- 
known to Hebrews. They were unknown to the 
Greeks until the seventh century B. C. About twenty- 
three hundred years B. C. the Egyptians became 
acquainted with the Negroes, who helped them on 
their monuments as early as i,6oo years B. C. 

Liberia. — Liberia is a Negro republic of western 
Africa, on the upper coast of Upper Guinea. It was 
founded by the American Colonization Company. The 
first expedition of eighty-six .emigrants was sent out in 
February, 1820. It was organized as a home for the 
Negro of the United States. The suffering that slavery 
brought upon the Negro aroused his friends, and, fol- 
lowing the plan of Wilberforce and other Englishmen, 
Liberia was founded as a refuge for the colored men 
who would avail themselves of its blessings. 

The constitution of Liberia, like that of the United 
States, establishes an entire separation of the church 
from the state, but all citizens of the republic must 
belong to the Negro race. The constitution has recently 
been changed and this point has been modified. Its 
present constitution was adopted in 1847 and is similar 
to that of the Constitution of the United States. The 
article on slavery reads thus: "There shall be no slav- 
ery within the republic, nor shall any citizen of this 
republic, or any person residing therein, deal in slaves 
either within or without the republic. ' ' 

The first years witnessed the struggle of a noble band 
of colored people who were seeking a new home on the 
edge of a continent given over to idolatry. Immigra- 



History of the race. 39 

tion went forward slowly, but the republic continued 
establishing and extending itself until it now numbers 
more than one million inhabitants. Alread}^ in 1853 
Bishop Scott, of the M. E. Church, stated that the gov- 
ernment of Liberia was extremely well administered. 
In his visit of several inonths he saw no intoxicated 
colonists and did not hear a profane word, the Sab- 
bath was kept in a singularly strict manner and the 
church crowded with worshipers. 

Agriculture is carried on with increasing success. 
Sugar was formerly the principal article of produce 
and of manufacture, but through the efforts of Mr. 
Morris, coffee has become the principal article. Rice, 
arrowroot and cocoa are also cultivated ; trade is rap- 
idly extending. Although the circumstances that led 
to the founding of this republic passed away when the 
shackles were torn from the Negroes of the South, yet 
it had done a vast amount of good before the days of 
the great rebellion, and to-day stands as a beacon light 
penetrating the darkness and gloom of Africa. May 
we not hope that through the ages to come the light of 
this Christian republic will reach the dark, trackless 
regions of African Paganism and bring millions to the 
brightness of its shining? 

Sierra Leone. — Sierre Leone is under the protecting 
hand of England, it has a population of half a million. 
Freetown, the capital, is a well built city, with a popu- 
lation of about seventy thousand, not more than 150 
whites. There is no friction among the races. A man 
is a man for what he is, what he knows and what he 
has. The west coast of Africa is often said to be a 
death trap on account of the malarial regions along the 
coast. This, however, is not substantiated by the 
reports from Freetown. While it has little or none of 



40 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

the modern hygienic and sanitary improvements and 
only six physicians, four colored . and two white, the ' 
death rate in 1896 was lower than that of Atlanta 
with all her advantages of altitude, hospitals, water, 
sewers and other modern sanitary improvements, 
together with her several hundred physicians and three 
medical colleges. The reason given for this is that in 
Freetown the majority of the colored people are in a 
position to take care of themselves ; while in Atlanta 
the death rate is greatly increased by poverty and 
ignorance. 

The Mayor of Freetown is a rich colored man. The 
streets of the city are lighted with oil lamps, there are 
no street cars, and only one railroad entering the city. 
The people are industrious and intelligent and hate 
ignorance. A man going there, if he wishes the respect 
of the people, must be a good mechanic, lawyer, doctor 
or preacher. An American common laborer finds no 
open door for the African can be secured much cheaper. 
Africa, like other parts of the civilized world, is calling 
for brains, morals and money ; without at least one of 
these Africa does not want you. 

Purpose and Preparation. — "Unless the Negro out 
of Africa goes to Africa seeking a home because he has 
none ; goes on his own volition, with as correct a knowl- 
edge of Africa as may be obtained from the writings of 
trustworthy African travelers and explorers and mis- 
sionaries, reinforced by race loyalty, and with greater 
confidence in himself and his race than in any alien 
self and alien race ; goes from a sense of duty imposed 
by his Christian enlightenment, and not tmprovided 
with ability and previous experiences to organize and 
control labor, with as ample means as he would go 
from the Atlantic coast of the United States to the 



HISTORY OF THE RACE. 41 

Pacific slope for the purpose of engaging in business, 
he is wholly and entirely unsuited for Africa, and 
would impede by his presence not only the progress of 
Liberia (if he went thither) but any part of Africa by 
his unprofitable presence, and ought to be denied the 
right to expatriate himself." 

Africa's Future. — "If my opinion about the future 
were asked," says Heli Chatelain, " I should not hesi- 
tate to declare my conviction that within one hundred 
years all Bantu-land will contain more than 500,000,000 
inhabitants, will equal Europe in civilization, will be 
united in a great United States of Central Africa under 
a new and improved edition of our American constitu- 
tion, will both speak and write a common language, 
the mother-tongue of all Bantu dialects, as revived by 
scholars and enriched with the best developments of 
its daughters, and will produce masterpieces of litera- 
ture, science, and art, vying with all the best that 
Europe and America will then be able to bring forth. 



CHAPTER II. 



SLAVERY. 



Knowledge Worth Knowing. — Dr. Hamilton says: 
"The popular notions which have prevailed concerning 
African slavery have shaped imaginations and con- 
trolled opinions concerning the origin and destiny of 
the African race. Men have asserted boldly and arro- 
gantly that the African people were designed in the 
very first cosmogony to be hewers of wood and 
drawers of water. Slavery was their natural relation. 
As the slaves in America within the recollection of the 
present generation have been Negroes, most persons 
have thought that all slaves have been Negroes. 
As Negroes have come from Africa, it has been com- 
monly believed that all Africans were Negroes. As the 
sons of Ham in the dispersion went into Africa to live, 
it has been supposed that all Negroes were the sons of 
Ham. And as Ham is said in the book of Genesis to 
have looked on the nakedness of his drunken father 
and so incurred his anger that he visited the sin of the 
father on the son of Ham, and in his anger cried out, 
'Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall be 
unto his brethren, ' it has been claimed scriptural war- 
rant is found for the enslavement of all Negroes. 
Of such knowledge and such argument it is pertinent 
to affirm, in the language of Mr. Josh Billings, 'that it 
would be better not to know so many things than to 
know so many things that are not so. ' " 

In Africa. — From time immemorial slavery has 
existed in Africa. The oldest records of the human 
race, the inscriptions of the Nile valley, show us that 

43 

4 Progress 



44 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Negro slaves from the Soudan were then, as to-day, one 
of the principal articles of Egyptian trade. 

Neither the institution of slaver}^ nor the slave trade 
were introduced into Africa or forced upon the natives 
by Arabic, Moslems, or European Christians. At all 
times, so far as human knowledge goes, slavery has 
been a constituent element in the social order of Negro 
Africa. It is said of two or three African Negro tribes 
that they object to selling their own tribesmen, and 
oppose slave dealing in a general way. But these 
exceptions only confirm the rule that slavery is the 
universal practice of native Africa. There the trade 
in human beings is considered just as honest as trade 
in any other merchandise. 

All those who want to work for the extinction of 
slavery in Africa should know from the start, that for 
one Arab or European slave-holder, slave-raider, or 
slave-dealer, there are hundreds of African slave- 
holders, slave-dealers and slave-raiders. Therefore, 
in their effort to conquer that monster they will have 
to face thousands of interested native opponents. 
This will be made clearer by a consideration of — 

Sources of Slavery. — Chief among these is (i) the 
right of parents to sell their children. Every child 
born is the property of its maternal uncle ; in a few 
tribes of its father. The uncle or the father has the 
right to dispose of his property as he pleases. He may 
even kill this human property and no one can prose- 
cute him, claim damages, or demand his punishment. 
If he sells his children, separating child from mother, 
nobody seems to think he is doing wrong. The victim 
itself is expected not to protest against it more than a 
young girl of our land would protest against being 
sent to a boarding school for the first time. 



SLAVERY. 



45 



(2.) The Right of a Free Adult to Sell Himself.— 

Runaway slaves, or liberated slaves, rather than be kid- 
naped, prefer to sell themselves to masters of their 
own choice. In times of famine hundreds are com- 
pelled to change their liberty for the food that will 
keep body and soul together. In war, cowards would 
rather live as slaves than die as freemen. 

(3.) Insolvent Debtors. — Those who have lost all 
resources of material, animal and human property, 
sometimes give themselves for debt. 

(4- ) Sale of Criminals by Legal Action. — In Africa 
there are no prisons, hence punishm-^nt is always paid 

by death or the pay- 
ment of a fine. If 
the fine cannot be 
paid the individual is 
sold to pay for it. 

(5.) Kidnaping. 
— This is much more 
frequent than is gen- 
erally supposed. The 
kidnaped generally 
resent the injustice 
committed, and fre- 
quently, with tears 
in their eyes, enter- 
tain a secret, though 
forlorn, hope of re- 
gaining their liberty 
and returning to 
their homes. 
(6. ) Capture in War. — Captives are often committed 
to slavery, many wars are often even made that cap- 
tives may be taken and carried into slavery. 




AN EX-SLAVE. 



46 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



Slaves of Slaves. — It is not an unusual thing for 
slaves to own slaves, and in old Calabor plantation, 
slave-holding by slaves is so common that you often 
hear of slaves belonging to slaves of slaves. Any slave 
may by industry and thrift redeem himself, take his 
seat among the tribal headman, and aspire to the 
kingship. 

Early History of Slavery. — The history of Negro 
slavery carried on by Europeans, beginning in Portu- 
gal over a period of 
400 years, and in- 
volving the exporta- 
tion by violence from 
their African homes 
of forty million of 
men, women and chil- 
dren, is one of ex- 
ceeding and unimag- 
inable bitterness. It 
is too late to crimi- 
nate those who were 
responsible for be- 
ginning the slave 
trade and for perpet- 
uating the system of 
bondage that grew 
out of it. Many of 
them were conscien- 
tious, Christian men, who worked without a thought 
of the wrong they were doing. Some of them really 
believed they were benefiting the Negro by buying 
him out of a condition of barbarism into the enlight- 
ening and purifying influences of Christianity. 

Livingstone's Tomb. — On Livingstone's tomb-slab 




AN EX-SLAVE. 



SLAVERY. 47 

m Westminster Abbey are engraved these, among the 
last words which he wrote: "All I can a^d, in my 
solitude is: May Heaven's rich blessing come down on 
everyone, Americans, English and Turk, who will 
help to heal this open sore of the world, the slave 
trade." 

For What Purpose. — Slaves are hunted by Moslems, 
Arabs, half-breeds, or Mohammedan Negroes, for the 
three following purposes: i. To supply labor for their 
fields and plantations in the Soudan, in Zanzibar and 
the adjoining coast belt; 2, to supply Negresses for the 
harems of Turkey, especially Arabia, Egypt, Tripoli, 
and Morocco ; 3, to obtain carriers for the trading cara- 
vans taking European goods to the interior and bring- 
ing down in exchange the tusks of ivory and the balls 
of rubber so much coveted by Europeans and Amer- 
icans. 

European Plantation Slavery. — Under the pretense 
of redeeming slaves from patriarchal native slavery 
these poor creatures are taken into European planta- 
tion slavery, which means that the slave .has no more 
free time, no accumulation of property, no hope of 
redeeming one's self by thrift, no home life, no possi- 
bility of flight, but unremitting toil from morning until 
night in the broiling sun, under the lash of the driver, 
without pay, and often with insufficient food. His only 
prospect is that he is being worked slowly to death. 

In Asia. — Slavery existed in Persia, China and 
India. Parents sold their children to be slaves. There 
was slavery among the Hebrews. All Africans are 
not Negroes, many of them are entirely distinct from 
the Negro — the idea that a slave is always black is 
erroneous. It is not Noah, nor Ham, nor Canaan, nor 
Africa, but sin and slavery that has cursed the Negro. 



48 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



Portugal inaugurated the slave trade. Antonio 
Gonsalvo%brought home some gold dust and ten slaves 
in 1443. These were probably the first slaves taken 
from western Africa by Europeans. They were pre- 
sented to Pope Martin V., and he conferred on Portu- 
gal the right of possession of all countries discovered 

between Cape Bo- 
^ jado and the Indies. 
Portugal also had the 
first of many chart- 
ered companies to 
trade in African gold 
and slaves. 

Columbus began 
his intercourse with 
the natives of Africa 
by kidnapping and 
he gave the word for 
the opening of the 
slave trade. 

Slavery in the 
New World. — Afri- 
can slavery was in- 
troduced into the 
New World by the 
Spaniards. Their cruelty to the inoffensive Indians in 
the islands of the West Indies had greatly reduced their 
numbers. The poor Indian had been reduced to slavery, 
and in order to prevent extermination the Spaniards re- 
sorted to importing slaves from Africa. The first cargo 
of Negro slaves was landed at San Domingo on the Is- 
land of Hayti in the year 1565. These were at once put 
to cultivating the plantations, and it was soon found 
that, as Rev. Wood says, "These hearty sons of Africa 




AN EX-SLAVE. 



SLAVERY. 49 

not only survived the oppressive cruelty of their heart- 
less taskmasters, but in time they rebelled against 
them, and under their invincible 'Black Prince,' Tous- 
saint, killed them in battle and drove them from the 
island." 

First Slaves, First Liberty. — Bancroft aptly says : 
"Hayti, the first spot in America that received African 
slaves, was the first spot to set the example of African 
liberty." 

Slavery in the United States. — Slaves were brought 
by the Spaniards to Florida soon after the founding of 
St. Augustine, in 1565, but the first slaves brought to 
the colonies were landed at Jamestown, Va., in 16 19, 
by a Dutch trading vessel. Twenty Negroes were 
exchanged for food and supplies. These had no per- 
sonal rights, were doomed to service and ignorance by 
law, and could not leave the plantation to which they 
belonged without a written pass from their master. 
They received no religious instruction, and were some- 
times given to white ministers as pay for their ser- 
vices. It was, however, nearly a half century from 
this time before the system of Negro slavery became 
well established in the English colonies. 

Slavery Contended for. — The slave trade was the 
great industry contended for and carried on. In 1 748 
there were 97,000 slaves carried to America by all 
nations, and up to that time the total number was 
probably a million. During the eighteenth century six 
millions were carried to America, besides the horrible 
traffic which was kept up to the coasts of the Mediter- 
ranean, to Egypt and Asia, which has been carried on 
from time immemorial. It is estimated that the profits 
of the slave trade in the seventeenth and eighteenth 



50 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

centuries from the Dark Continent were equal to that 
on gold and all other products. 

The Slave Trade. — We cannot in a few paragraphs, 
relate all the horrors and suffering entailed on the 
African race by means of the slave trade. While it is 
true that the revenue of the kings of the country some- 
times depended on the sale of slaves, yet it remains as 
a blot on Christian England and America's record that 
they were the means of carrying out this cruel work. 
Some Americans, at least, went one step further, and, 
not content with selling slaves, sold their own sons and 
daughters. 

The Slave Dealer. — Many chapters might be written 
upon the cruelties and inhuman treatment of the slave 
dealers, but as all who have engaged in this nefarious 
business have rendered their accounts to God, who is 
just, and have been justly dealt with, we will pen but 
a few items to show what the race has endured. 

Kidnapping. — Probably the largest number of slaves 
were obtained by a system of kidnapping. In this 
case a village was often surrounded in the night and 
torches applied to the combustible huts; the able- 
bodied men and women were seized, bound, while 
children, the aged and infirm were cruelly murdered in 
the light of their burning homes. In journeying to 
the seashore, over rugged mountain sides and through 
fields of cacti, whose sharp thorns would lacerate and 
tear their flesh, they endured more than can be 
expressed. On reaching the coast the best of them 
were selected and placed on board ships, while those 
who had not endured the march, or were maimed, 
were often murdered in cold blood. 

It is said that King Loango, "rather than incur the 
expense of feeding slaves for whom he found no mar- 



SLAVERY. 



51 



ket, sent them to a side of a hill and cruelly butchered 
them there. 

Middle Passage. — The slave ships were frequently 
crowded to such an extent that men were barely allowed 
room enough to lie down. 

Lord Falmerston says: "A Negro has not as much 







CAPTURING SLAVES. 



room in a sea ship as a corpse in a coffin." Bancroft 
says: *'The horrors of the middle passage correspond 
to the infamy of the trade. ' ' Small vessels, of little 
more than two hundred tons burden, were prepared 
for the traffic, for these could most easily penetrate the 
bays and rivers of the coast; and quickly obtaining 



52 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

lading, could soonest hurry away from the deadly air 
of Western Africa. In such a bark, five hundred 
Negroes and more were stored, exciting wonder that 
nen could have lived, within the tropics, cribbed in so 
few inches of room. The inequality in force between 
the crew and the cargo, led to the use of manacles; the 
hands of stronger men were made fast together, and 
the right leg of one was chained to the left of another. 
The avarice of the trader was a partial guarantee of 
the security of life, as far as it depended upon him; 
the Negroes, as they came from the higher level to the 
seaside, poorly fed on the sad pilgrimage, sleeping at 
night on the damp earth, without covering, and often 
reaching the coast at unfavorable seasons, imbibed the 
seeds of disease, which confinement on board ship 
quickened into feverish activity. There have been 
examples where one-half of them — it has been said, 
even two-thirds of them — perished on the passage. ' ' 

President Lincoln, who was always easily moved by 
appeals for mercy, when appealed to by a slave trader, 
promptly and sternly refused, although the appeal was 
very pathetic, and the man had served a long time in 
prison. The President said: "I could forgive the 
foulest murder for such an appeal, but the man who 
could go to Africa and rob her of her children and sell 
them into endless bondage, with no other motive than 
that of getting dollars and cents, is so much worse 
than the most depraved murderer that he can never 
receive a pardon at my hands. No ! he may rot in jail 
before he shall have liberty by any act of mine. " 

Profit. — Dr. Roy says: "Before the annual meeting 
of the American Missionary Association, in 1859, Rev. 
Dr. George B. Cheever, from Harper's Encyclopedia 
of Commerce, made the following statements as to the 



SLAVERY. 53 

slave trade: For it every year twelve vessels were 
fitted out by three cities each, Boston and Baltimore 
being of the number, and from other places enough to 
make forty slave ships, owned mostly by northern men. 
Each made two trips a year, at a total cost of three 
million dollars. The receipts being twenty million dol- 
lars, left for profit seventeen million dollars. One 
voyage of the fleet would bring in twenty-four thousand 
slaves, of whom four thousand were lost by death. 
The two trips a year would make the total importation 
forty thousand. These were mainly taken to Cuba, 
but fifteen thousand were for the United States the 
preceding year. A slave ship was landed after the war 
broke out, in a distant part of the South, and there the 
slaves were held till after the war. It has been esti- 
mated by Hon. John M. Langston and Col. Keating, 
of the Memphis Appeal, that up to 1825, forty million 
slaves had been imported to the West Indies and to the 
American continent. 

Slavery a Curse. — Some writers will insist that 
American slavery has been a blessing to the race. 
Slavery is dead, and there is no one that would revive 
it. Ancient slavery may have been a step forward in 
evolution, because it ended in emancipation, and ulti- 
mately in the fusion of the races. But American slav- ■ 
ery was a long step backward. 

It was carried on by a desire of Europeans in a lan- 
guid climate to have the work done for them instead 
of doing it themselves. 

Fusion in the case of Negro slavery was fatally pre- 
cluded by color; there could be no intermingling 
except that which arose from the abuse of the Negro 
woman by her white master. While household slavery 
may frequently have been mild, the plaatation slave 



54 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

was overworked and tortured, and, with impunity, 
sometimes murdered. If certain writers are correct in 
attempting to show that the slave was contented in his 
bonds, why those fetters, those cruel slave laws, those 
bloodhounds? If he was fully content to live in slavery, 
why the laws that forbade the holding of meetings, the 
restraint from moving about freely, the liability to 
arrest when found alone, and the subjection to flogging 
when found away from the plantation , Think of the 
revolting sights when, at public auction, husband and 
wife, parent and child, were sold apart, a sight of 
human cattle on the way to the auction and the adver- 
tisements of human flesh, especially of girls nearly 
white. Negro quarters on the plantation were hovels, 
his clothes rags, his food coarse, his life foul; it has 
been asserted that his life was happier than his African 
home, but it remains to be proven that this is the case. 

Slavery Cannot Be Justified. — "Slavery cannot be 
justified," says Gov. Atkinson, "but may not God have 
intended that you, who are the descendants of those 
whom slavery has brought into the country, should 
pray and work for the redemption of your fatherland?" 

Slavery Degrading. — Judge Stroud, in his "Sketch 
of the Laws Relating to Slavery," declares: "This 
maxim of civil law, the genuine and degrading 
principle of slavery, inasmuch as it places the slave on 
a level with brute animals, prevails universally in the 
slave -holding states." "It is plain that the dominion 
of the master is as unlimited as that which is tolerated 
by the laws of any civilized country in relation to brute 
animals to quadrupeds, to use the words of the civil 
law." To the unprincipled observer, at thirty-five 
years' distance, the whole system, as a system, was 
"the sum of all villianies, " one universal harem, that, 



SLAVERY. 55 

at the emancipation of the slave, had swept to the 
vortex of tyranny, degradation, fornication and diabol- 
ism of the most vicous character. 

"In the case of Harris vs. Clarissa and others, in 
the March term, 1834, the chief justice, in delivering 
his opinion to the court, said: 'In Maryland, the issue 
(i. e. , of female slaves) is considered not an accessory, 
but as a part of the use, like that of other female 
animals. Suppose a brood mare be hired for five years, 
the foals belong to him who has a part use of the dam. 
The slave in Maryland in this respect is placed on no 
higher or different ground. ' " 

The Slave Trade in the United States. — In 1774, the 
Articles of the Continental Association agreed that no 
more slaves should be imported and that the African 
slave trade should be wholly discontinued. These 
agreements were signed by the representatives of the 
colonies, but it was left to the next generation to carry 
out the agreement fully. 

Abolishing African Slave Trade. — In his message to 
Congress at the commencement of the session in 1806, 
President Jefferson asked of that body the wisdom of 
abolishing African slave trade. The message was 
referred to a select committee, which reported a bill to 
prohibit the importation of slaves into the United 
States. This bill, of course, was fought by the South- 
ern representatives. A long and fiery debate ensued 
and the act was finally passed, after several amend- 
ments, imposing a fine on persons engaged in the slave 
trade were added. 

A Baltimore journal of this period says: "Dealing 
in slaves has become a large business. Establish- 
ments have been made in several places in Maryland 
and Virginia at which they are sold like cattle. These 



56 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

places of deposit are strongly bolted and are supplied 
with iron thumb- screws and gags ornamented with 
cows' skins, ofttimes bloody." 

A Curious Advertisement in a religious paper of 
Richmond, in March, 1850, is found the following: 
"Who wants thirty-five thousand dollars in property. 
I am desirous to spend the balance of my life as a 
minister^ if the Lord permits^ and therefore offer for sale 
my farm, the Vineyard, adjoining to Williams- 
burg * * * and also about 40 servants, mostly young 
and likely, and rapidly increasing in number and 
value. ' ' 

Effect on Slave Owners. — While the slave owner 
may have been hospitable, courteous, grave, the char- 
acter of a true gentleman cannot be found where 
reigns domestic despotism, amidst whips, manacles 
and bloodhounds. The minds of young men were 
tainted by familiarity with slaves. With slavery 
always goes lust. If, as the advocates of slavery con- 
tended, the Negro was not a man, what were all these 
half-breeds to be called. The tendency of slavery in 
that which is not elevating in man is clearly seen in 
the inferiority of Southern to Northern life. Culture, 
invention, literature, scientific research, were not found 
South as long as slavery existed. It is only since slav- 
ery has been abolished that the South is beginning to 
rise in all these lines. 

Not Content in Slavery. — The argument against the 
Negro is that he has never rebelled or resisted slavery, 
that his docility and contentment in slavery suggested 
that this was this normal condition. But we need 
understand the true condition of the Negro, his help- 
lessness and lack of leadership, to see the falsity of 
such arguments. Negro insurrections, wherever the 



SLAVERY. 57 

opportunity presented itself, were not wanting in the 

south land. We need but refer to what is called the 

Nat Turner insurrection to show that the Negro was. 

struggling for freedom, and was not as docile as the 

white slaver would make him. 

The influence of this bloody insurrection in which 
the lives of so many whites were taken spread through- 
out Virginia and the South. For years afterwards they 
lived in a state of dread for fear another Nat Turner 
might arise. 

Serious Apprehensions. — ''Talks from the Times" 
says: "During the days of slavery there were con- 
tinuous and serious apprehensions on the part of mas- 
ters. The whole South was under patrol every night, 
and the Negro, though regarded then, as many seem to 
regard him now, as a harmless, spiritless being, a 
'scrub race,' a 'race of timid rabbits,' was an object 
of suspicion and distrust, and not infrequently was 
• consternation thrown into whole states by apprehen- 
sions of servile uprisings. " 

Uncle Tom's Cabin. — Dr. Edwards says: "The key 
to 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' is one of the most abhorrent 
and appalling commentaries ever written on African 
slavery. It has made the cheek of -many a slave-holder 
tingle. But the legislation at that time in Virginia 
was deemed a life and death question Nothing short 
of it, for the time being, could allay the painful and 
distressing excitement that prevailed everywhere 
throughout the country. It almost makes one's blood 
run cold, even at this remote period of time, to recall 
the trepidation and alarm that pervaded the whole 
community. The stoutest hearts were made to quail. 

Negro Insurrection. — Rumors of Negro insurrec- 
tion filled the air. Sleep ceased to be refreshing, 



58 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

haunted as it was by hideous dreams of murder, blood 
and arson. Mothers and maidens, and even little 
children, for months, not to say years, following the 
*Nat Turner Insurrection.' looked pale and ghastly as 
the shadows of evening gathered around them, from 
the horrifying apprehension that with bludgeon they 
might be brained, or with torch might be burned to a 
crisp before morning. I speak from experience. Nor 
would I go through the agony of those years again for 
all the gold that ever passed hands in the Negro traffic 
from Colonial times till President Lincoln emancipated 
them with a stroke of his pen. Pharaoh and his peo- 
ple, under the visit of the destroying angel, when the 
first-born was convulsively quivering in the death 
struggle in every household, did not more earnestly 
desire the quick departure of the Hebrews out of the 
land of Egypt than did the great majority of the slave 
holders in the Carolinas and Virginias desire the 
removal of the Negroes from among them immediately 
after the Southampton Insurrection." 

Restriction of Slavery. — The African trade having 
been abolished, the next question that agitated the 
mind of the American abolitionist was that of restrict- 
ing slavery; while the North would restrict it to its 
present limits, the South insisted that slavery should 
be permitted to be carried into the new territory and 
states as they entered the Union. The Congressional 
discussion of the slavery question aroused the anti- 
slavery sentiment of the North, and thereby hastened 
the day when it was possible to liberate the last slave. 

Slavery in the Colonies. — Slavery was early intro- 
duced into all of the thirteen original colonies. But 
climate and other considerations proved that it was 
not so profitable to the Northern colonies as to those in 



SLAVERY. 59 

the South. After some years the Northern colonies 
liberated their slaves and adopted laws against slavery. 
While in the South, the large rice and cotton fields,' 
where labor was in demand, the slave was held in cruel 
bondage, for no other reason than that of the profit 
that it might bring the owner. 

The Southern Colonists.— The Southern colonists 
differed widely from the Northern in habits and style 
of living. In place of thickly settled towns and vil- 
lages, they had large plantations, and were surrounded 
by a numerous household of servants. The Negro 
quarters formed a hamlet apart, with its gardens and 
poultry yards. An estate in those days was a little 
empire. The planter had among his slaves men of 
every trade, and they made most of the articles needed 
for common use upon the plantation. There were 
large sheds for cutting tobacco, and mills for grinding 
corn and wheat. The tobacco was put up and con- 
signed directly to England. The flour of the Mount 
Vernon estate was packed under the eye of Washington 
himself, and we are told that barrels of flour bearing 
his brand passed in the West Indies market without 
inspection. 

Maryland and Delaware.— While the North liber- 
ated the slave, the Quakers of Maryland and Delaware 
were rapidly emancipating theirs. Men felt that the 
best interests of white society demanded that the curse 
of slavery should be abolished. * ' The whole commerce 
between master and slave," says Mr. Jefferson, ''is a 
perpetual exercising of the most boisterous passions, 
our children see this and learn to imitate it. If a 
parent could find no other motive for restraining the 
temper of passion against his slave it should always be 
a sufficient one that his child is present. The man 

5 Jf rogress. 



60 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

must be a prodigy that can retain his morals and man- 
ners undepraved by such circumstances, and what exe- 
cration should come upon the statesman who permits 
half the citizens thus to trample on the rights of others, 
transform them into despots, and these into enemies, 
destroy the morals of one, and the love of country of 
the other. ' ' 

It was often difficult to tell whether the slave or the 
master was injured the more, the ignorance of the 
slave hid from him the great evils of his condition, 
while the intelligence of the owner revealed the bane- 
ful effects of slavery upon all who came within its area. 
It made men sectional, licentious, profligate, cruel, 
and selfishness paled the holy fire of patriotism. 

Profitable in Maryland.— In Maryland the slave 
trade became a profitable enterprise on account of its 
rich soil and cultivation of tobacco. Labor was scarce, 
and the Negro slave labor could be made as cheap as 
his master's conscience and heart were small. Slavery 
gained a foothold and at once became the bone and 
sinew of the working force of the colony. While many 
attempted to persuade themselves that slavery was an 
institution indispensable to the success of the colony 
here, as elsewhere, it was impossible to escape the bad 
results of the trade which made men cruel and 
avaricious. 
^ Virginia.— There is no doubt that the colony of 
"Virginia purchased the first Negroes, and thus opened 
the nefarious traffic in human flesh. 

It may, however, be stated, that the first twenty 
were forced upon the colony by the Dutch sailors who 
were famishing and insisted upon the exchange of 
Negroes for food. 

It is to be noted that even after the institution of 



SLAVERY. 61 

slavery was founded, its growth was very slow in Vir- 
ginia; according to the census of 1624, there were "but 
twenty-two in the entire colony. The African slave 
trader was some time in learning that this colony was 
a ready market for his helpless victims. Whatever 
compunction of conscience the colonists had in refer- 
ence to the sub-dealing in slaves, this was destroyed 
at the golden hopes of immense gains. 

Slavery existed in this colony from 1619 until 1662, 
without any sanction of law, but in a later year slavery 
received the direct sanction of statutory law, and it 
was also made hereditary ; with each returning year, 
this cruel inhuman institution flourished and mag- 
nified. 

While in some colonies efforts were made to put 
down slavery from 1619 to 1775, there is nothing in 
history to show that Virginia ever sought to prohibit 
in any manner the importation of slaves. That she 
enriched herself by the slave trade cannot be doubted. 

The slave had no personal rank ; if he dared lift up a 
hand against any white man he was punished with 
lashes, or if he resisted his master he could be killed. 

Virginia, the mother of Presidents, was also the 
mother of American slavery. In the absence of the 
slave trade which Great Britain had suffered, the de- 
mand for more Negroes in the cotton fields of the South 
was met by the conversion of Virginia, the old Dominion 
state, into a breeding state, a shameful, degrading end 
for the mother of Presidents. 

New York. — An urgent and extraordinary demarui 
for labor, rather than the cruel desire to traffic in 
human beings, led the Dutch to engage in Negro slave 
trade. The majority of them were employd on farms, 
and led quiet and sober lives. At first the Negro slave 



62 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

was regarded as a cheap laborer, but after a time he 
became a coveted chattel. It is stated that Oueen 
Elizabeth discouraged slavery and at one time 
attempted to rebuke a slave dealer, but soon after was 
found encouraging the slave trade. The condition of 
the slaves in the Christian colony of New York was no 
better than in many other colonies, they had no family 
relations, for a long time lived together by common 
consent, had no schools, neglected in life, and were 
abandoned to biirial in a common ditch after death. 

The Negro Plot. — In 1741, through a combination of 
circumstances, the Negroes of New York were accused 
of plotting against the whites, and in less than three 
months more than 150 Negroes vv^ere put into prison, 
some of them burned at the stake, others hansred, some 
transported, and the remainder pardoned. The hatred 
and mistrust of the Negro was the occasion of much of 
this supposed riot. Without evidence, and with the 
mere form of a trial, many Negroes were convicted 
and sentenced to death. The resiilt of the supposed 
Negro plot in New York is a stain upon the fair name 
of that province. It is stated that the desperate valor 
of the Negro in the war with Great Britain gave her 
an opportunity to dispell injustice and wipe out with 
his blood the dark stains of 1841. 

Rhode Island. — The institution of slavery was never 
established by statute in this colony, but in a few years 
after the establishment of the government it became 
so fully rooted that it was not possible to destroy it 
without explicit and positive prohibition of law. 

Demand for Ignorance. — The education of the Negro 
in all colonies was considered to be a step against the 
best interests of their masters. The flourishing of the 



SLAVERY. " 63 

slave trade demanded that the slave be kept in 
ignorance. 

New Jersey. — It is not known when slavery was 
introduced into. New Jersey, but early in its history the 
Dutch, Quakers and the English held slaves,, but were 
more humane in their treatment of them than in the 
other colonies. Legislation on the subject was not 
undertaken until about the middle of the eighteenth 
century, and at no time did it reach the severity that 
exhibited itself in the other parts of the country. In 
this colony alone, of all the colonies north or south, 
was the American Negro given the right of trial by 
jury. In Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts and in 
all other colonies, the Negro went into the court con- 
victed, and went out convicted, he was executed on 
the flimsiest evidence imaginable, but be it said 
to the praise of New Jersey that justice was shown 
towards the Negro in this colony as in no other. The 
Negro slave was given the privilege of being tried 
by jury and permitted to be sworn in the courts. 

South Carolina. — In South Carolina the inhumanities 
of the slave trade reached its height. The entire slave 
population of this province was regarded as a chattel. 
Rice fields of this state demanded labor and the 
increase of the slave was almost phenomenal. The 
laws were not surpassed in stringency by any other 
colony, and it was unlawful for any free person to 
inhabit or trade with Negroes. The cruelties of the 
code are without parallel. 

Goldwin Smith says: "In the upshot she became 
the typical slave state, the heart of slavery and the 
focus of all the ideas and all the ambitions connected 
with the system ; while Charleston, her social capital 
and seaport, became the paradise of planter society 



64 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

with its luxury and pride. Her slave code transcended 
even that of Virginia in cruelty and expressed still 
more vividly the terrors of a dominant race. Every one 
who found a slave abroad without a pass was to flog 
him on the spot. All Negro houses were to be searched 
once a fortnight for arms and for stolen goods. For 
the fourth larceny a slave was to suffer death, and the 
kind of death was left to the discretion of the judge. 
For running away a fourth time a slave was to undergo 
mutilation. For punishing a slave so that he died no 
one was to suffer any penalty. For the wilful murder 
of a slave the penalty was a fine of forty pounds. 
It need not be supposed that the most revolting articles 
of the code were often put in force, or that they repre- 
sent the general relations between master and slave. " 

North Carolina. — In this colony there was but little 
improvement on the condition of the slave in South 
Carolina. If any Negro showed the least independence 
with white men he could be murdered in cold blood. 
The free Negro population was small and were not 
allowed any communion with the slaves; here, as else- 
where, the slave was left in a state of ignorance in 
order to further the interests of his master. 

New Hampshire. — Early in the history of New 
Hampshire slavery was considered by the authorities 
as a wicked, hateful institution. The colony never 
passed any laws establishing slavery, but as early as 
1 714 passed several laws regarding the conduct and 
service of the slaves. In New Hampshire there were 
slaves up to the beginning of the war of the Revolu- 
tion, but they were slaves in name only. 

Massachusetts. — In Massachusetts, as well as in 
some other colonies, slavery was first introduced into 
individual families and afterwards into communities 



SLAVERY. 65 

where, without the sanction of the law, usage and cus- 
tom made it legal. Finally, men desiring to enjoy the 
field of unrequiting labor gave it the sanction of stat- 
utory law. 

Pennsylvania. — Since the habit of enslaving the 
Negro spread through the colonies north and south, 
Pennsylvania, even, tolerated slaves within her borders. 
It is said that William Penn himself once owned slaves. 
Efforts were made in early years to pass laws emanci- 
pating slaves, but the mother country would not per- 
mit such laws at that time. 

Slave -Breeding States. — After the establishing of 
our republic, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky and Mis- 
souri were the border states of slavery. North of these 
the slave was free, and even in these states slavery 
was found to be an unprofitable business as far as labor 
was concerned. We may well then ask, "Why was not 
slavery abolished in these states?" For the simple 
reason that it was found that since the African slave 
trade was abolished the South needed an increasing 
number of slaves for the great plantations. Here was 
found a profitable business, and these states became 
breeding states for the propagation of the race, increas- 
ing the number so as to flood the markets of the South. 
One of the largest exports of these states was slaves. 
It was estimated that in 1836 the number sold from the 
single state of Virginia was 40,000, yielding a return 
of twenty -four million dollars. This business, horrible 
as it seems in our day, was licensed and protected by 
law, advertised in papers, and recognized as one of the 
branches of legitimate production of trade. 

Not Universally Countenanced. — It must not be 
supposed that this trade was countenanced by all in the 
South, even there, there were men who denounced in 



SLAVERY. 67 

strong and vehement language the barbarous custom of 
separating man and wife, motlier and child, scattering 
families never to meet again until at the great day 
they meet their inhuman masters as common accusers. 
The pathetic scenes that presented themselves to the 
better element in the South brought words of condem- 
nation against the remorseless traffic that presented 
scenes along the streets and highways where crowds of 
suffering victims whose "Miserable condition was sec- 
ond only to the wretched borders of Hell," were made 
the victims of man's greed and gain. 

Border States. — The states bordering on the slave 
states, while not permitting slavery within their bor- 
ders, yet passed what vv^ere called "Black Laws," 
which left the free Negro but little better off in Ohio, 
Indiana and Illinois than in the Southern states. Black 
or mulatto persons were not allowed to reside in the 
state without having a certificate of freedom. Later, 
amended laws in Ohio required that a bond be given 
not to become a charge upon the county in which they 
settled. They were not permitted to give evidence in 
any court of record or elsewhere in the state against a 
white person. Severe penalties were inflicted on all 
who harbored such as had not given bonds. Thus, 
being denied the right of citizenship, ruled out of courts, 
compelled to produce a certificate of freedom, and in 
many other ways annoyed by laws limiting the rights 
they were suffered to enjoy, the free Negroes of these 
states were little better than slaves. That they endured 
patiently these restrictions which public sentiment 
threw across their social and political pathway is a 
matter of record. 

Pensioning Old and Feeble Slaves.— This question 
has been discussed and urged upon our government 




w 

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O 
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W 
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Pi 

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68 



SLAVERY. 69 

repeatedly, but no definite action has been taken. 
While race prejudice is rapidly disappearing, it may 
be safe to say that before a sentiment can be obtained 
that will enact laws favorable to pensioning old and 
feeble slaves by congress or by any state legislature, 
every ex-slave will have passed into that life where he 
receives the recompense of reward for all his deeds, and 
where he is beyond the reach of the inhumanities of 
the slave master and needs no pension. 

Added Items. — The emancipation of slaves in all the 
French colonies took place February 4, 1794. 

The complete emancipation of slaves in the English 
colonies occurred in 1838 to 1839, when more than 
800,000 men, besides women and children, were lib- 
erated. 

Sweden emancipated her slaves in 1846, and this was 
soon followed (in 1848) by the Danish colonies pro- 
claiming the freedom of her slaves. 

Holland delivered her American colonies from slav- 
ery August 8, 1862. 

The African slave trade was closed in this country 
on the first day of January, 1862. 



? £i t / 




i?o 



CHAPTER III. 

THE NEGRO IN THE REVOLUTION. 

Slave Population. — In 1715 the slave population 
was about 60,000, but England's policy of crowding her 
American plantations with slaves increased the num- 
ber rapidly, so that sixty years after, when the revolu- 
tionary war began, the slave population of the thirteen 
colonies was about 500,000; 50,000 of these were found 
in the North. 

The desire to gain liberty with such a host of beings 
was not to be despised, and both sides contended for 
their services. 

A Great Mistake. — If the colonists had at once will- 
ingly enlisted the Negro in the cause of liberty it can 
hardly be doubted that the struggle of eight years 
would have been shortened greatly, but in this case, as 
in many other instances, their enemy, the mother coun- 
try, succeeded in using the slaves to a much greater 
extent than the colonists. Jefferson says: "That 30,- 
000 Negroes from Virginia alone went to the British 
army. " Had the colonies permitted the Negro to enlist, 
and had the Negro been urged from the first to stand 
for the cause of liberty, much bloodshed might have 
been avoided. The selfishness of the colonists, espe- 
cially in the South where the opposition to the arming 
of the Negro was much stronp-er than the love for inde- 
pendence, asserted itself to such a degree that any 
effort to enlist the Negro in that section seemed useless. 

The First Blood for Liberty shed in the colonies 
was that of a real slave and Negro. On the 5 th day of 
March, 1770, occurred the Boston massacre, which, 

71 



72 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

although not opening the real struggle, yet was the 
bloody drama that opened the most eventful and thrill- 
ing chapter in American history. 

Crispns Attncks, a runaway slave, at the head of a 
crowd of citizens resolved that the conduct of the 
British soldiers who marched through Boston as 
through a conquered city could no longer be endured, 
and led the charge against the British with the cry : 
"The way to get rid of these soldiers is to attack the 
main guard. Strike at the root, this is the nest." 
The troops were ordered to fire, the exposed and com- 
manding person of the fearless Attucks went down 
first. Three others fell in the same attack, Caldwell, 
Gray and Maverick. This aroused the people of Bos- 
ton. The burial of these four men from Faneuil Hall 
was attended by a large and respectable concourse of 
people. 

"Long as in freedom's cause the wise contend, 
Dear to your country shall your fame extend; 
While to the world the lettered stone shall tell 
Where Caldwell, Attucks, Gray and Maverick fell. ' 
The following notice appeared in the Boston Gazette 
twenty years before when Attucks ran away from his 
master: 

"Ran away from his master, William Brown, of 
Framingham, on the 20th of Sept. last, a Mullato Fel- 
low, about 27 years of age, named Crispus, 6 feet 2 
inches high, short curl' d hair, his knees nearer together 
than common ; had on a light colored Bearskin Coat, 
plain brown Fustian Jacket, or brown All Wool one, 
new Buckskin breeches, blue Yarn Stockings, and a 
checked woolen shirt. Whoever shall take up said 
runaway, and convey him to his abovesaid master, 
shall have ten pounds, old Tenor Reward, and all 



THE NEGRO IN THE REVOLUTION. 73 

necessary charges paid. And all Masters of Vessels 
and others are hereby cautioned against concealing or 
carrying off said Servant on Penalty of the Law. Bos- 
ton, October 2, 1750." 

Hero and Martyr. — Attucks cut the cord and knot 
that held us to Great Britain. "From that moment," 
says Webster, "we may date the severance of the 
British Empire." It touched the people of the col- 
onies as they had never been touched before. Orators 
poured out upon this former slave, now a hero and 
martyr, their unstinted praise. At each succeeding 
anniversary of this eventful day Crispus Attucks 
and his noble companions were lauded until our Na- 
tional Independence was achieved, when the 4th of 
July was substituted. 

Committee of Safety. — A committee of safety was 
early appointed after the beginning of the war, and 
according to its decision no slaves were to be admitted 
into the army under any consideration whatever. Some 
free men had already enlisted. Peter Salem was a 
slave who fought side by side in the ranks with white 
soldiers. It was he who, on that memorable occa- 
sion at Bunker Hill when Major Pitcairn, at the 
head of the British army made an attack upon the 
American forces, shouting, " The day is ours," 
poured the contents of his gun into that officer's body 
killing him instantly, and checking temporarily the 
advance of the British. 

Of this occasion Mr. Aaron White, of the Massa- 
chusetts Historical Society, writes: 

" With regard to the black hero of Bunker Hill, 
I never knew him personally nor did I ever hear from 
his lips the story of his achievements; but I have 
better authority. A soldier of the Revolution, who 



74 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

was present at the Bunker Hill battle, related to my 
father the story of the death of Major Pitcairn. At 
the moment when the major appeared, startling the 
men before him, a Negro stepped forward, and, aim- 
ing his musket at the major's bosom, blew him through. 
I have frequently heard my father relate the story and 
have no doubt of its truth. Salem was not .the onlv 
Negro at the battle of Bunker Hill. Others whose 
bravery has not been recorded participated in the bat- 
tle, showing valor and fidelity. ' ' 

Major Lawrence, who fought through the war from 
Concord to the peace of 1783, and who participated in 
many of the severest battles, at one time commanded 
a company of Negroes whose courage, military disci- 
pline and fidelity he spoke of with respect. On one 
occasion, being out reconnoitering with his company, 
he got so far in advance of his command that he was 
surrounded and on the point of being made a prisoner 
by the enemy. The colored men, soon discovering 
his peril, rushed to his rescue and fought with the 
most determined bravery till that rescue was effect- 
ually secured. He never forgot this circumstance, 
and ever after took special pains to show kindness 
and hospitality to any individual of the colored race 
who came near his dwelling. 

Freeing the Slave. — After the committee of safety 
had excluded slaves from the army many of them 
were freed by their masters on condition that they 
join the army. But the prejudice against the Negro 
asserted itself more and more until the legislative 
bodies took action and entirely prevented Negroes 
from enlisting. 

Colonial Congress. — Edward Rutledge, of South 
Carolina, moved that all Negroes be discharged that 



THE NEGRO IN THE RLVOLUTION. 75 

were in the army. This proposition was strongly 
supported by the Southern delegates, but the North- 
ern delegates succeeded in voting it down. The con- 
test, however, continued until a conference committee 
was called at Cambridge, at which it was agreed that 
the Negro should be rejected altogether. 

Reorganization. — In the reorganization of the army 
many officers who had served with Negroes in the 
militia, and who had been enlisted in the Colonial 
army, protested against the exclusion of their old 
comrades on account of color. Washington saw what 
might be the result if they were not permitted to 
enlist, and gave his consent to the enlistment with this 
proviso — "If this is disapproved by Congress I will put 
a stop to it. " It could be clearly seen that if a Negro 
was not permitted in the army the British would gain 
the advantage over the Colonial forces, and no one 
could predict what the Negro might do. Congress 
reluctantly receded from its position and granted per- 
mission to enroll Negroes under certain conditions. 

Lord Dunmore, who had charge of the British forces 
in the South, proclaimed freedom to all the slaves who 
would repair to his standard and bear arms to the 
king. The flocking of slaves to the British standard 
greatly alarmed the Colonial forces and caused them 
to utilize the Negro forces, but in this the British had 
already preceded them. 

The Negro Prince. — It is impossible to recite all in- 
cidents and circumstances showing the heroism and 
bravery on the part of the Negro in this war, but a 
few stand out more prominently than others. Of 
these one is the Negro Prince, in Colonel Barton's 
command, who succeeded in capturing General Pres- 

6 Progress. 



76 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

cott in bed. The daring part that this negro took 
is shown in the following: 

" The pleasing information is received here that 
Lieutenant-Colonel Barton, of the Rhode Island mi- 
litia, planned a bold exploit for the purpose of sur- 
prising and taking Major-General Prescott, the com- 
manding officer of the royal army, at Newport. Taking 
with him, in the night, about forty men, in two boats, 
with oars muffled, he had the address to elude the 
vigilance of the ships-of-war and guard boats, and, 
having arrived undiscovered at the quarters of Gen- 
eral Prescott, they were taken for the sentinels ; and 
the general was not alarmed till the captors were at 
the door of his lodging chamber, which was fast closed. 
A Negro man named Prince, instantly thrust his beetle 
head through the panel door and seized his victim 
while in bed. This event is extremely honorable to 
the enterprising spirit of Colonel Barton, and is con- 
sidered an ample retaliation for the capture of General 
Lee by Colonel Harcourt The event occasions great 
joy and exultation, as it piits in our possession an 
officer of equal rank with General Lee, by which 
means an exchange may be obtained. Congress re- 
solved that an elegant sword should be presented to 
Colonel Barton for his brave exploit. ' ' 

Major Jeffrey. — Among the brave blacks who fought 
in the battles for American liberty was Major Jeffrey, 
a Tennesseean, who, during the campaign of Major- 
General Andrew Jackson, in Mobile, filled the place of 
' ' regular ' ' among the soldiers. In the charge made 
by General Stump against the enemy the Americans 
were repulsed and thrown into disorder, Major Stump 
being forced to retire in a manner by no means desir- 
able under the circumstances. Major Jeffrey, who 



THE NEGRO IN THE REVOLUTION. 77 

was but a common soldier, seeing the condition of his 
comrades and comprehending the disastrous results 
about to befall them, rushed forward, mounted a horse, 
took command of the troops, and by an heroic effort 
rallied them to the charge, completely routing the 
enemy who left the Americans masters of the field. 
He at once received from the general the title of 
"major," though he could not, according to the Amer- 
ican policy, so commission him. To the day of his 
death he was known by that title in Nashville, where 
he resided, and the circumstances which entitled him 
to it were constantly the subject of popular conver- 
sation. 

Major Jeffrey was highly respected by the whites 
generally, and revered in his own neighborhood by 
all the colored people who knew him. 

A few years ago, receiving an indignity from a 
common ruffian, he was forced to strike him in self 
defense, for wiiich act, in accordance with the laws 
of slavery in that as well as many other of the slave 
states, he was compelled to receive on his naked per- 
son, nine and thirty lashes with a rawhide ! This, at 
the age of seventy-odd, after the distinguished services 
rendered his country, probably when the white ruffian 
by whom he was tortured was unable to raise an arm 
in self defense, was more than he could bear ; it broke 
his heart, and he sank to rise no more, till summoned 
by the blast of the last trumpet, to stand on the bat- 
tlefield of the general resurrection. 

Re-enslavement. — Many Negroes were induced to 
enlist in the Colonial army with the understanding 
that they were to have their freedom at the close of 
the war. But the re-enslaving of the Negro who 
fought for American independence by stay-at-homes 



78 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

was a flagrant outrage. In the legislatures of some 
states they passed acts rebuking the injustice of such 
treatment. 

The Legislature of Virginia ordered that persons 
in the states who caused the slaves to enlist as free 
persons could not thereafter force them to return to a 
state of servitude, so contradictory to that principle 
of justice and their own solemn vows. Every slave 
who had enlisted in any regiment, and who had been 
received as a substitute for any free person whose 
duty it was to serve in a regiment, was held and 
deemed free in as full and amiple a manner as if each 
one who came had been especially named in the act. 

Simon Lee. — Simon Lee, grandfather of Wm. Wells 
Brown, was a slave in Virginia and served in the war 
of the Revolution. Although honorably discharged 
with the other troops at the close of the war he was 
sent back to his master where he spent the remainder 
of h.i's life toiling on a tobacco plantation. 

Massachusetts, although having abolished slavery 
in 1783, it seems was still subjected to slave hunts, 
and her Negro soldiers were insulted by attempts to 
re-enslave them. 

The British Army. — Not only did the soldiers of 
the American army receive unjust treatment but the 
British, who had promised freedom to all who would 
join their ranks, after enduring the hardships of the 
war often committed them back to slavery. 

Mr. Jefferson says: " From an estimate I made at 
that time, on the best information I could collect, I 
supposed the state of Virginia lost under Lord Corn- 
wallis' hand that j^ear, about thirty thousand slaves, 
and that of these twenty thousand died of the small- 
pox and camp fever. The rest were partly sent to 



THE NEGRO IN THE REVOLUTION. 79 

the West Indies and exchanged for rum, sugar, coffee 
and fruit, and partly sent to New York, from whence 
they went, at the peace, either to Nova Scotia or to 
England. From this place I believe they have lately 
been sent to Africa. History will never relate the 
horrors committed by the British army in the South- 
ern states of America." 

The Heroism of the Negro. — The heroism of the 
Negro has been eulogized by many of our American 
statesmen, notably Mr. Pinckney and Mr. Eustis. 

Mr. Pinckney says: "It is a remarkable fact that 
notwithstanding, in the course of the Revolution, the 
Southern states were continually overrun by the 
British, and that all Negroes in them had an oppor- 
tunity of leaving their owners, few did, proving there- 
by not only a most remarkable attachment to their 
owners, but the mildness of the treatment from whence 
their affections sprang. They then were, as they still 
are, as valuable a part of our population to the Union 
as any other equal number of inhabitants. They 
were in numerous instances the pioneers, and in all, 
the laborers of your armies. To their hands were 
owing the erection of the greatest part of the forti- 
fications raised for the protection of our country ; some 
of which, particularly Fort Moultrie, gave, at the 
earlier period of the inexperience and untried valor 
of our citizens, immortality to American arms. In 
the Northern states numerous bodies of them were 
enrolled into, and fought by the side of the whites, 
the battles of the Revolution." 

Mr. Eustis, of Massachusetts, said: "At the com- 
mencement of the Revolutionary war there were found 
in the Middle and Northern states many blacks and 
other people of color capable of bearing arms ; a part 



80 PROGRESS OF a RACE. 

of them free, the greater part slaves. The freemen 
entered our ranks with the whites. The time of those 
who were slaves was purchased by the states, and they 
were induced to enter the service in consequence of 
a law by which, on condition of their serving in the 
ranks during the war, they were made freemen. ' ' 

" The war over and peace restored, these men re- 
turned to their respective states, and who could have 
said to them on their return to civil life after having 
shed their blood in common with the whites in the 
defense of the liberties of their country. You are not 
to participate in the liberty for which you have been 
fighting? Certainly no white man in Massachussetts. ' ' 
Rev. Dr. Hopkins, of Rhode Island, said: 
" God is so ordering it in his providence that it 
seems absolutely necessary something should speedily 
be done with respect to the slaves among us, in order 
to our safety and to prevent their turning against us 
in our present struggle, in order to get their liberty. 
Our oppressors have planned to get the blacks and in- 
duce them to take up arms against us, by promising 
them liberty on this condition, and this plan they are 
prosecuting to the utmost of their power, by which 
means they have persuaded numbers to join them. 
And should we attempt to restrain them by force 
and severity, keeping a strict guard over them, and 
punishing those severely v/ho shall be detected in at- 
tempting to join our oppressors, this will only be mak- 
ing bad worse, and serve to render our inconsistence, 
oppression and cruelty more criminal, perspicuous and 
shocking, and bring down the righteous vengeance 
of Heaven on our heads. The only way pointed out 
to prevent this threatening evil is to set the blacks 
at liberty ourselves by some public act and laws, and 



THE NEGRO IN THE REVOLUTION. 81 

then give them proper encouragement to labor, or 
take arms in the defense of the American cause, as 
they shall choose. This would at once be doing them 
some degree of justice, and defeating our enemies in 
the scheme that they are prosecuting," 

Colonel Laurens. — No man stands out more prom- 
inently in the war of the Revolution than Colonel 
Laurens. He labored earnestly for the South to over- 
come the prejudices and to raise colored regiments. 
Although supported by the general government the 
selfishness of the Southern slaveholder frustrated his 
plans. In one of his letters to Washington he says: 
"The approaching session of the Georgia legislature 
induces me to remain in these quarters for the purpose 
of taking new measures on the subject of our black 
levies. I shall, with all the tenacity of a man, do 
everything that I can in regaining a last effort on so 
interesting an occasion. " Washington's reply showed 
that he, too, had lost faith in the patriotism of the 
citizens of the South to a great degree. He said : 

"I must confess that I am not at all astonished at 
the failure of your plan. That spirit of freedom which, 
at the commencement of this contest, would have 
gladly sacrificed everything to the attainment of its 
object has long since subsided, and every selfish pas- 
sion has taken its place. It is not the public, but pri- 
vate interest which influences the generality of man- 
kind, nor can the Americans any longer boast an 
exception. Under these circumstances it would rather 
have been surprising if you had succeeded ; nor will 
you, I fear, have better success in Georgia." 

Negro Soldiers. — George Williams says as soldiers 
the Negroes went far beyond the most liberal expec- 
tations of their staunchest friends. Associated with 



82 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

white men, many of whom were superior gentlemen 
and nearly all of whom were brave and enthusiastic, 
the Negro soldiers of the American army became 
worthy of the cause they fought to sustain. Colonel 
Alexander Hamilton had said: " Their natural facul- 
ties are as good as ours," and the assertion was sup- 
ported by their splendid behavior on all the battlefields 
of the Revolution. Endowed by nature with a poetic 
element, faithful to trusts, abiding in friendship, bound 
by the golden threads of attachment to places and 
persons, enthusiastic in personal endeavor, sentimental 
and chivalric, they made hardy and intrepid soldiers. 
The daring, boisterous enthusiasm with which they 
sprang to arms disarmed racial prejudice of its sting 
and made friends of foes. 

Their cheerfulness in camp, their celerity in the 
performance of fatigue-duty, their patient endurance 
of heat and cold, hunger and thirst, and their bold 
efficiency in battle, made them welcome companions 
wherever they went. The officers who frowned at 
their presence in the army at first, early learned from 
experience, that they were the equals of any troops 
in the army for severe service in camp and excellent 
fighting in the field. 



CHAPTER IV, 

ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION. 

Slavery Established in the South. — After the Revo- 
lution, when the new nation was recovering from the 
effe"cts" of the long continued war, it was found that 
slavery had established itself in the Southern States 
while in the North, slaves ware^being set free. 

Responsibility. — The responsibility of fastening 
slavery upon the new republic was not the fault of the 
Declaration of Independence, which stated that all men 
are created equal and are endowed by the Creator with 
inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness. Southern statesmen proved themselves 
masters of the situation, and, seeing great gain in the 
trafiic in slaves, labored to establish it more and more in 
the South. While they could not hide behind the walls 
of the constitution they took refuge, as they thought, 
behind the Bible, and urged that the divine origin of 
slavery was incontrovertible, that slavery was the nor- 
mal condition of every Negro, and that the white man 
was God's agent to carry out the prophecy of Noah 
respecting the descendants of Ham. 

Agitation. — While in the slave states there was a 
determined effort to establish slavery, yet throughout 
the whole nation, especially in the North, the anti-slav- 
ery sentiment was being agitated and increased. Some 
statesmen, notably Mr. Jefferson, prophesied a dissolu- 
tion of the Union if the nation were to remain half 
slave and half free. 

The whole commerce between master and slave was 

83 



84 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

denounced as the most unrelenting despotism on the 
one. part and degrading submission on the other. 

Property in Man. — Says George Williams: "When 
the doctrine of property in man was driven out of 
Europe as an exile and found a home in this New 
World in the West, the ancient and time honored anti- 
slavery sentiment combined all that was good in brain, 
heart and civilization, and hurled itself with righteous 
indignation against the institution of slavery the per- 
fected curse of the ages. 

The Quakers. — Foremost in the anti-slavery agita- 
tion were the good and kind-hearted Quakers, or 
Friends. In our poor Negro slaves they saw a brother, 
and very early in the history of the nation emancipated 
all their slaves and labored to increase the anti-slavery 
sentiment. 

Benjamin Lundy. — One of the first agitators of the 
anti-slavery movement was Benjamin Lundy, who 
traveled through a number of states and labored inces- 
santly for the freeing of the Negro. In 1830 he says: 
"I have within ten years sacrificed several thousands of 
dollars of my own earnings, I have traveled upwards of 
5,000 miles on foot and more than 20,000 in other ways, 
have visited nineteen states of this Union and held 
more than two hundred public meetings, have per- 
formed two voyages to the West Indies, by which 
means the emancipation of a considerable number of 
slaves has been affected, and, I hope, the way paved 
for the enfranchisement of many more. " Considering 
the extreme dangers to which any one agitating anti- 
slavery was subjected in these times this was a remark- 
able work. He was afterwards associated with William 
Lloyd Garrison. These men, together equally ardent 
in their efforts to abolish slavery, were, however, not 



ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION. 



85 



agreed as to the method. Ltindy favored gradual 
emancipation, Garrison immediate and unconditional 
emancipation. 

William Lloyd Garrison. — This young man devoted 
his life to the cause of freeing the Negro. At an early 
period he edited an anti-slavery paper and afterwards 




WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON. 



united with Mr. Lundy in publishing a paper at Balti- 
more. Seeing a load of slaves for the New Orleans 
market, the sundering of families, as well as the har- 
rowing cruelties that attended these scenes, he de- 
nounced in his paper in no measured terms, the whole 
institution, and expressed his determination to cover 
with thick infamy all who were engaged in the trans- 



86 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



action. The result was that his paper was destroyed, 
he was arrested, tried for libel, and convicted and 
imprisoned. The exorbitant fine imposed upon him 
was afterwards paid by the benevolent Arthur Tap- 
pan. Garrison went forth from the prison if possible 
a more inveterate foe to slavery than ever. It was not 
popular to denounce slavery and hence this young 
orator often encountered great dangers. When cau- 
tioned he replied: "I am aware that many object to 
the severity of my language, but is there not cause for 
severity. I am but as harsh as truth and as uncom- 
promising as justice. Tell a man whose house is on 
fire to give a moderate alarm ; tell him to moderately 
rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher ; tell the 
mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire 
into which it has fallen ; but urge me not to use mod- 
eration in a cause like the present. I am in earnest. 
I will not equivocate — I will not excuse — I will not 
retreat a single inch. And I will be heard." There 
never was a more intrepid leader against slavery than 
William Lloyd Garrison. 

Anti-Slavery Societies. — In 1836 there were 250 
auxiliary societies in thirteen states, and eighteen 
months later they had increased to 1,000. 

Silence of the Pulpit.— It is true that many of the 
foremost ministers of the day maintained an unbroken 
silence on the slavery question, but all could not be 
kept silent. There were notable exceptions in many 
parts of the north, while in some parts anti-slavery 
men who had been hoping for aid from the church 
went out of the church temporarily, hoping that the 
scales would drop from the eyes of the preachers ere 
long. Dr. Albert Barnes stated: ''That there was no 
power out of the church that would sustain slavery an 
hour if it were not sustained in it. " 



ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION. 87 

Leaders of the Anti-Slavery Party. — Among- the 
leaders of the anti-slavery party we may mention Par- 
ker Pillsbury, Stephen Foster, James G. Birney and 
Samuel Brooke. Mr. Pillsbury said: "The anti- 
slavery movement has unmasked the character of the 
American church. Our religion has been found at war 
with the interests of humanity and the laws of God. 
And it is more than time the world was awakened to 
its unhallowed influence on the hopes and happiness 
of man while it makes itself the palladium of the foul- 
est iniquity ever perpetrated in the sight of Heaven. " 

Theodore Parker was another of the strong men who 
lent his influence v/holly against slavery. 

Other Agitators. — Foremost among agitators were 
such men as E. P. Lovejoy, who afterwards gave his 
life for the cause, James G. Birney, Cassius M. Clay 
and John Brown. Of John Brown it may be said that 
it was given to him to write the lesson upon the hearts 
of the American people so that they were enabled, a 
few years later, to practice the doctrine of resistance 
and preserve the nation against the bloody aggressions 
of the Southern Confederacy. 

Colonization Societies. — These were formed earlier 
than any other anti-slavery organizations. Their objects 
were to rescue the free colored people of the United 
States from the political and social disadvantages and 
to place them in a country where they might enjoy the 
benefits of free government with all the blessings 
which it brings in its train. The American Coloniza- 
tion Society was never able to secure the confidence 
and the support of the anti-slavery societies of the day 
nor the Negro in gfeneral. It did not oppose slavery in 
its stronghold, but simply sought to secure a place for 
freed Negroes. The press, in many cases, lent its aid 



88 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



to the colonization societies, but, notwithstanding the 
apparent favor which it received, it was readily seen 
that to send the Negro to Africa or some other favored 
spot was an impossibility. The society lost strength 




WENDELL PHILLIPS. 



yearly until all were convinced the race could not be 
colonized, but that the Negro must be emancipated 
here and remain here. 

Wendell Phillips. — One of Mr. Garrison's most able 
and earnest supporters was Wendell Phillips. Although 



ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION. 89 

in many respects they strangely differed yet they stood 
united for the cause of freedom; one was a self-made 
man, the other a product of New England culture. 
One was the executive of the anti-slavery movement, 
the other the orator spreading the eloquence that melted 
the fetters from a race and transformed a nation. Mr. 
Phillips was a reformer and early espoused the cause 
of anti-slavery. One of his most remarkable addresses 
against slavery was made in Faneuil Hall, Boston, 
where a number had gathered after the murder of Love- 
joy to discuss the subject of slavery. Faneuil Hall was 
secured by Dr. Channing. It was crowded at the time 
of the meeting, thronged with three factions, some 
being for free discussion, some to make mischief, and 
others, idle spectators, were swayed to and fro by each 
speaker in turn. Resolutions were offered denouncing 
the murder of Lovejoy. To defeat the adoption of 
these resolutions a popular politician, attorney-general 
of Massachusetts, made a captivating speech and 
almost succeeded in turning the audience against the 
cause for which they had met. The foes of freedom, 
through this astute attorney, captured the hall and 
were ready to vote down the resolutions. It was at 
this important moment, under the very shadow of the 
pending catastrophe, that Wendell Phillips claimed 
the floor and with his marvelous voice captivated 
the ears of his audience. Mr. Phillips soon made him- 
self master of the situation and hurled anathemas at the 
previous speaker, and so coinpletely carried his audi- 
ence with him that at the close, with a whirlwind of 
applause, the resolutions were carried by an over- 
whelming vote. Oliver Johnson says of this speech : 
"I had heard Phillips once before, and my expecta- 
tions were high, but he transcended them and took the 
audience by storm. ' ' 



90 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



It was a speech to which not even the ablest report 
could do justice, for such a report could not bring the 
scene and the speaker vividly before the people. Mr. 
Phillips, by espousing the cause of anti-slavery, was 
ostracised from social circles, for caste at that time in 
New England knew no recognition of true moral worth. 
It cost Wendell Phillips much when he became an 
abolitionist. This speech on Lovejoy's murder in 
Faneuil Hall, cut him from all social intercourse with 
previous friends. No one but those who have endured 
the persecutions of these days can understand what 
it cost these men to stand so earnestly for the freedom 
of the slaves. Their true moral worth cannot be too 
forcibly presented to the youth of to-day. Long live 
in the memory of the present and future generations 
men like Wendell Phillips who staked their all and 
were ready at any cost to stand for the suppression of 
the slave trade. 

Convention of Colored People.— As early as 183 1 the 
freed Negroes throughout the Northern, states deter- 
mined to do what they could for their brethren in 
bonds. Several conventions were held. A college was 
to be established and no doubt much good might have 
been done had they been permitted to continue in their 
work. Able leaders succeeded in making the conven- 
tion a power, but the intense hatred of the slavery 
element succeeded in abolishing these societies com- 
posed of persons of color. These societies were dis- 
banded and their members took their places in white 
societies. 

The Proposed College.— A plan was proposed at one 
of these conventions that a college on the manual-labor 
system be established in New Haven. It seems, how- 
ever. New Haven resented the idea of having a colored 



ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION. 



91 




CHARLES SUMNER. 

A staunch anti-slavery man who did more in Congress for the 

freedom of the slave than any other man. He was 

Senator from Massachusetts. 



college and another site was selected. The disband- 
ing- of the colored associations put a stop to this move- 
ment which might have brought so much good to the 
whole of the colored race. 

Anti-Slavery Women of America. — In 1837 the anti- 
slavery women met in their first convention in New 
York, and the question as to admitting colored women 

7 Progress. 



92 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

was discussed and ably defended. It was finally decided 
that the society should admit colored members as well. 
The following lines by a colored member, Miss Sarah 
Forten, justified the hopes of her white sisters concern- 
ing the race : 

"We are thy sisters. God has truly said 
That of one blood the nations he has made. 
Oh, Christian woman, in a Christian land, 
Canst thou unblushing read this great command? 
Suffer the wrongs which wring our inmost heart, 
To draw one throb of pity on thy part. 
Our skins may differ, but from thee we claim 
A sister's privilege and a sister's name." 

Anti-Slavery Orators. — The arguments of anti- 
slavery orators were often met by rotten eggs and many 
of them were abused. Mr. Garrison was dragged 
through the streets of Boston with a halter about his 
neck. Colored schools were broken up. Public meet- 
ings were disturbed by pro-slavery mobs. All this 
violent opposition added fuel to the flame and made 
the anti-slavery agitators all the bolder. While the 
foreign slave trade had been suppressed slave popula- 
tion was increasing at a wonderful ratio. Garrison's 
voice was not uncertain in those days. In July, iS6o, 
he declared: "Our object is the abolition of slavery 
throughout the land. I am for meddling with slavery 
everywhere — attacking it by night and by day, in sea- 
son and out of season — in order to effect its overthrow. 
Down with this slave-holding government! Let this 
'covenant with death and agreement with heir be 
annulled ! Let there be a free, independent Northern 
republic and the speedy abolition of slavery will inev- 
itably follow. ' ' 




HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. 

Author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin.'* 



94 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Literature. — Anti-slavery literature was scattered 
throughout the nation. Many pamphlets and books 
were written by eminent Negroes informing the pub- 
lic mind, stimulating the action and touching the heart 
of the civilized world of two continents. "Uncle Tom's 
Cabin," however, pleaded the cause of slavery more 
effectually than the millions of anti-slavery books and 
pamphlets, presenting the despairing cry of the en- 
slaved, the struggle of fettered manhood, and touched 
the sympathies of the youth as well as the aged with a 
pity for the slave and a determination to abolish so 
hideous an institution. 

Harriet Beecher Stowe. — Although Harriet Beecher 
Stowe was not permitted to take an active and direct 
part in freeing the slaves, yet her work, "Uncle Tom's 
Cabin, ' ' did more in bringing about the final liberation 
of the slave than any other agency. This volume has 
been translated into many languages. Everywhere 
i«ad it is destined to create a sentiment against the 
traffic in man. 

The Pro-Slavery Reaction. — The agitation of the 
anti-slavery question brought about a strong opposition 
to any effort made to free the slaves. Rewards of 
Sio,ooo and even $50,000 were offered for the heads of 
prominent abolitionists. Andrew Jackson in his mes- 
sage to Congress in 1835, suggested the propriety of a 
law that would prohibit, under severe penalties, the cir- 
culation in the Southern states through the mails of pub- 
lications intended to incite the slaves to insurrection. 

Attempts to Stifle Discussions. — The legislatures of 
the different states, as well as Congress, were jiext 
entreated to prohibit discussions of the slavery ques- 
tion. These efforts were generally defeated in the 
North, but in the South were successful. 



ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION. 95 

Mob Riots. — In many places mob violence was re- 
sorted to in breaking np meetings called for the discus- 
sion of anti-slavery questions. Philadelphia had a riot 
lasting three nights and the harmless and powerless 
blacks were mainly its victims. At Concord, N. H., 
the mob demolished an academy because colored boys 
were admitted as pupils. At Northfield, N. H., George 
Storrs attempted to deliver an anti-slavery lecture, 
but was dragged from his knees while at prayer. On 
trial he was acquitted, but soon after was again ar- 
rested and sentenced to three months' imprisonment. 
He appealed and that ended the matter. 

At Boston, William Lloyd Garrison was dragged 
through the streets with a rope around his body, but 
was finally rescued by the mayor who protected him 
from further violence. In the same city a women's 
anti-slavery society was dispersed by a mob while its 
president was at prayer. In the South there was but 
one mode of dealing with the abolitionists. "Let your 
emissaries cross the Potomac and I promise you that 
your fate will be no less than Haman's, " says a South- 
ern writer. • 

Rifling the Mails. — Anti-slavery literature was not 
permitted to be sent through the mails in the South 
and a meeting in Charleston, S. C. , unanimously 
resolved that all mail matter of this kind should be 
burned. The mails were searched and rifled for the 
purpose. Attempts were made to bring offenders to 
justice, but failure met them in every case. 

Congress Suppressing Agitation. — Not only in the 
state legislatures, but in Congress, measures were 
adopted to suppress the discussion of the slavery ques- 
tion. In 1837 Congress adopted by a vote of 117 to 68 
the following resolution: "That all petitions, mem- 



96 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



orials, resolutions, propositions, or papers relating- in 
any way to the subject of slavery or the abolition of 
slavery shall, without being either first read or referred. 



-> 'j-XS* 




HENRY WILSON. 

An anti-slavery agitator and Vice-President in 1872. While in 
Congress in 1862 he introduced a bill for the employment 

of Negroes as Soldiers. 

be laid on the table." Amazing as it may seem, this 
heroic treatm_ent was not successful in arresting agi- 
tation and restoring tranquillity to the public mind, 



ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION. 97 

SO that each succeeding Congress was necessitated to 
do the work over again. 

John Brown. — One of the most prominent of the 
agitators of anti-slavery was John Brown of national 
fame. The story jf this man's life is too well known 
to be repeated here. After laboring for many years 
and succeeding in aiding the cause of anti-slavery in 
many ways, he attacked Harper's Ferry in 1859 and, 
with a number of associates was made a prisoner. 
It is vam to under-rate either the man or his w^ork. 
With firmness of will and a purpose unconquerable, he 
labored for the cause so dear to him and to which he 
had given most of his years. After the fight at Har- 
per's Ferry he said: "I never intended plunder or 
treason or the destruction of property, or to excite the 
slaves to rebellion ; I labored only to free the slaves. 
South Carolina, Missouri and Kentucky each sent a 
rope to hang him, but Kentucky's, proving the strong- 
est, was selected and used. His last leUer, w^ritten 
before his death to Mrs. George L. Stearns, Boston, 
Mass., follows: 

"Charleston, Jefferson Co., 29th Nov., 1859. 
"Mrs. George L. Stearns, Boston, Mass. 

"My Dear Friend: No letter I have received since 
my imprisonment here has given me more satisfaction 
or comfort than yours of the 8th inst. I am quite 
cheerful and never more happy. Have only time to 
write you a word. May God forever reward you and 
all yours. 

"My love to ALL who love their neighbors. I have 
asked to be spared from having any mock or hypocrit- 
ical prayers made over me when I am publicly mur- 



98 



PROGRESS OF A FACE. 



dered ; and that my only religious attendants be poor 
little, dirty, ragged, bare-headed and bare-footed slave 
boys and girls led by some old gray-headed slave 
mother. Farewell. Farewell, 

"Your friend, 

"John Brown." 
John Brown gave slavery its death wound and his 
immortal name will be pronounced with blessings in 
all lands and by all people till the end of time. 




JOHN BROWN, THE ABOLITIONIST. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAWS. 

UNDERGROUND RAILROAD SYSTEM SLAVE POPULATION. 

Fugitive Slave Laws. — Very severe and stringent 
laws were passed to prevent anyone from aiding the 
slaves in attempting to escape to the North. These laws 
permitted owners to follow slaves and legally claim 
them in other states. Any one suspected of showing 
even an act of kindness to a fugitive slave was liable 
to be flogged, fined or imprisoned. The greater the 
agitation of the question the more severe were these 
laws. 

Calvin Fairbanks. — Many respected citizens were 
imprisoned and fined for aiding slaves. Calvin Fair- 
banks spent nearly eighteen years in a Kentucky peni- 
tentiary for the crime of aiding poor slaves in gaining 
freedom. It is said that during this time he received 
35,000 stripes on his bare body. Early in life he had 
heard of the sufferings and miseries endured by slaves 
and had resolved then to do all in his power to right 
the wrongs suffered by the race. He was one of the 
first in the Underground Railway work along the Ohio. 
A num.ber of times he was arrested in the act of giving 
assistance to slaves and committed to prison, where he 
suffered untold cruelties from the hands of his keeper, 
"I was flogged sometimes bowed over a chair or some 
other object, often receiving seventy lashes four times 
a day, and at one time received 107 blows at one time, 
particles of flesh being thrown upon the wall several 
feet away. ' * All this was endured by a white man in 
order to free the Negro. 

LolC. 99 



100 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Rev. John Rankin, of Ohio, was fined $i,ooo, besides 
serving- a term in prison. 

W. L. Chaplin aided two young slaves of Georgia to 
escape. Caught in the act, he was imprisoned for five 
months and released on a bail of $25,000. His friends, 
knowing: that he would be convicted and sent to the 
penitentiary for a number of years, and perhaps for 
life, resolved to pay his bail. All his property was 
sacrificed, and through the liberality of that princely 
man, Garrett Smith, the sum was raised. 

Thomas Garrett, a Ouak er of Delaware, one of the 
most successful agents of the Underground Railway, 
assisted nearly 3,000 slaves to escape from bondage ; 
he was at last convicted and fined so heavily that he 
lost all his property When the auctioneer had knocked 
off his last piece of property to pay the fine he said : 
*'I hope you will never be guilty of doing the like 
again." Garrett, although penniless at the age of 
sixty, replied: "Friend, I have not a dollar in the 
world, but if thee knows a fugitive slave who needs a 
breakfast send him to me." It is with pleasure we 
learn Mr. Garrett lived to see the day when the slaves 
obtained their freedom. 

Levi Coffin. — This man of high social position, a 
Quaker of Cincinnati, was frequently called the presi- 
dent of the Underground Railway. He succeeded in 
aiding about 25,000 slaves in gaining their freedom. 

Captain Jonathan Walker.— Mr. Walker took a con- 
tract to build a railroad in Florida and for this purpose 
employed a number of Negroes. By kind treatment he 
gained the confidence of these slaves who afterwards 
persuaded him to aid them in gaining their liberty. 
They attempted to escape in a boat to an island not far 
away. Captain Walker was taken violently sick, and 



THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAWS. 



101 



the Negroes, not understanding how to manage the 
boat, were taken up by another vessel and taken to Key- 
West. Captain Walker was tried in the United States 
Court and was sentenced to be branded on the right 
hand with the capital letters "S. S. " (slave stealer), 
and to pay as many fines as there were slaves ; to suffer 




THOMAS GARRETT. 



From " Underground Railroad," by permission of Author. 



as many terms imprisonment; and to pay the costs 
and stand committed until the fines were paid. The 
initials of the words "slave stealer" were branded 
upon his hand and he was imprisoned, but his friends 
succeeded in raising money to pay his fines and he 
was released in 1845. The following lines by Whittier 
gave quite another meaning to the brand "S. S.," 



102 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

making^ it a badge of honor, signifying the heroism 
and self-sacrifice in spirit of these forerunners of 
liberty. 

" Then lift that manly right hand, bold plowman of the wave, 
Its branded palm shall prophesy Salvation to the Slave; 
Hold up its fire- wrought language, that whoso reads may feel 
His heart swell strong within him, his sinews change to steel; 
Hold it up before our sunshine, up against our Northern air. 
Ho! men of Massachusetts, for the love of God, look there! 
Take it henceforth for your standard, like the Bruce 's heart of 

yore ; 
In the dark strife closing round ye let that hand be seen 
before. ' ' 

Underground Railroad. — By this term we designate 
the many methods and systems by which fugitive 
slaves from the Southern States were aided in es- 
caping to the North or Canada. 

After slavery was abolished in the North slaves 
frequently ran away from their masters and attempted 
to reach the free states of the North, or better still, 
Canada, where they were beyond the reach of their 
former masters. 

These so-called railroads were most useful auxiliar- 
ies in giving aid to the Negro. Fugitive slave laws 
gave masters the right to pursue the slaves into an- 
other state and bring them back. The men interested 
in these railways were men who felt they should fear 
God rather than man, that the fugitive slave laws 
were unjust and that they should not be obeyed. 
They were composed of a chain of good men who 
stretched themselves across the land from the borders 
of the slave states all the way to Canada. Many fu- 
gitive slaves were thus permitted to escape. They 
were carried by night to a place of safety and then 
turned over to another conductor who very often 



. THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAWS. 103 

would load up and convey the fugitives in a covered 
wagon to the next station. Thus they were carried 
on from one place to another. As soon as leaders 
rose among the slaves who refused to endure hard- 
ship, the fugitive then came north. George Williams 
says: "Had they remained, the direful scenes of St. 
Domingo would have been re-enacted, and the hot 
vengeful breath of massacre would have swept the 
South as a tornado and blanched the cheek of the 
civilized world." 

Different Branches. — It would be very difficult to 
name all the branches of the "Underground Railroad. " 
They extended all the way from New Jersey to Illi- 
nois. Probably those on which the greatest number 
was rescued extended through Pennsylvania and Ohio. 
Many local branches existed in different parts of the 
country. 

William Still. — One of the most active workers in 
f reeinof slaves was William Still. He was chairman and 
secretary of the eastern branch of the road. It is won- 
derful what work such men as Mr. Still did in those 
days when opposition was so great. A part of the 
work that he has done is recorded in " Underground 
Railroad." In the preface of this work Mr. Still 
says: "In these records will be found interesting nar- 
ratives of the escapes of men, women and children 
from the present House of Bondage ; from cities and 
plantations ; from rice swamps and cotton fields ; from 
kitchens and mechanic shops ; from border states and 
gulf states; from cruel masters and mild masters; 
some guided by the north star alone, penniless, brav- 
ing the perils of land and sea, eluding the keen scent 
of the bloodhound as well as the more dangerous pur- 
suit of the savage slave-hunter; some from secluded 




i 1% ••' 



M&GCiElilLlW€7Wf%i % 



104 



I 
THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAWS. 105 

dens and caves of the earth, where for months and 
years they had been hidden away awaiting the chance 
to escape; from mountains and swamps, where inde- 
scribable sufferings and other privations had patiently 
been endured. Occasionally fugitives came in boxes 
and chests, and not infrequently some were secreted 
in steamers and vessels, and in some instances jour- 
neyed hundreds of miles in skiffs. Men disguised in 
female attire and women dressed in the garb of men 
have under very trying circumstances triumphed in 
thus making their way to freedom. And here and 
there, when all other modes of escape seemed cut off, 
some, whose fair complexions have rendered them, 
indistinguishable from their Anglo-Saxon brethren, 
feeling that they could endure the yoke no longer, 
with assumed airs of importance, such as they had 
been accustomed to see their masters show when trav- 
eling, have taken the usual modes of conveyance and 
have even braved the most scrutinizing inspection of 
slave-holders, slave-catchers, and car conductors, who 
were ever on the alert to catch those who were con- 
sidered base and white enough to practice such decep- 
tion. " Mr. Still says that the passengers on the Un- 
derground Railroad were generally above the average 
order of slaves. 

Agents. — As the branches of the railroad were nu- 
merous it would be impossible to name any consider- 
able number of the agents of the road. Some of these 
nobly periled their all for the freedom of the op- 
pressed. Seth Concklin lost his life while endeavoring 
to rescue from Alabama slavery the wife and children 
of Peter Still. vSamuel D. Burris, whose faithful and 
heroic service in connection with the underground 
railway cost him imprisonment and inhuman treat- 



106 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



ment, at last lost his freedom by being sold from the 
auction block. 




WILLIAM STILL. 

See sketch in Chapter XIV. 
Stockholders.— Stockholders did not expect any divi- 
dends in this road, nor were any reports published. 



THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAWS. 107 

Indeed, prudence often dictated that the recipients of 
favors should not know the names of their helpers and 
vice versa, they did not desire to know others. The 
slave and his friends could only meet in private to 
transact the business of the road. All others were 
outsiders. The right hand was not to know what the 
left hand was doing. The safety of all concerned 
called for still tongues. For a long time no narratives 
were written. Probably the best and most authentic 
of these thrilling accounts of the struggle for liberty 
are found in "Underground Railroad." 

Methods Pursued. — Different methods were pursued 
to aid fugitive slaves; some availed themselves of 
steamboats, railroads, stage coaches, but more fre- 
quently a more private method was resorted to, so as 
to escape detection. A number of cases are reported 
where colored men were boxed up and shipped by 
express across the line. 

William Jones, from Baltimore, succeeded in having 
his friends box him up and ship him by express to 
Philadelphia; for seventeen hours he was enclosed in 
the box, but friends at the Philadelphia underground 
station succeeded in getting the box safely, and after a 
time in sending the slave to Canada. 

Mr. Pratt, in his sketches of the underground railway, 
gives a number of interesting accounts of escapes, 
among which are a mother and daughter who escaped 
in a box from Washington to Warsaw, New York. 
With the aid of a friend they secured a box, put in it 
straw, quilts, plenty of provisions and water, and their 
friend carried the box in a spring wagon to the North. 
This friend, in order to succeed in his efforts, passed 
himself off as a Yankee clock peddler, and as he drove 
a wagon and good team, no questions were asked. 

8 Progress. 



108 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



When out of sig-ht of settlements he would open the 
box and give the inmates an opportunity to walk irx 
the nitz-ht for exercise. The master heard of theii 
whereabouts and sent slave-hunters to recapture them, 










~.\"ir» — •-c.i- 



A BOLD STROKE FOR FREEDOM. 
From "Underground Railroad," by permission of Author." 

but the sentiment against slavery was so strong that 
they were not permitted to take them back. 

Henry Box Brown. — The marvelous escape pf lienry 
Box Brown was published widely in papers when the 
anti-slavery agitation was being carried on. In point 
of interest his case is no more remarkable than any 
other; indeed, he did not suffer near as much asrnany. 
He was a piece of property in the city of Richmond, 
He seemed to be a man of inventive mind, and knew 
that it was no small task to escape the vigilance of 
Virginia slave hunters, or the wrath of an enraged 
master, for attempting to escape to a land of liberty. 



THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAWS. 



109 



The ordinary modes of travel, he concluded, might 
prove disastrous to his hopes, he therefore hit upon a 
new invention, which was to have hiinself boxed up 
and forwarded to Philadelphia by express. Size of 
box was 2 feet wide, 2 feet 8 inches deep and 3 feet 
long. His food consisted of a few small biscuits. He 
had a large gimlet which he intended to use for fresh 
air if necessary. Satisfied that this would be far better 
than to remain in slavery, he entered the box. It was 




RESURRECTION OF HENRY BOX BROWN. 
From " Underground Railroad," by permission of Author. 

safely nailed up and hooped with five hickory hoops, 
and addressed by his friend, James A. Smith, a shoe 
dealer, to Wm. Johnson, Arch street, Philadelphia, 
marked "This side up, with care. " It was twenty-six 
hours from the time he left Richmond until he arrived 
in Philadelphia. The notice, "This side up," did not 
avail, for the box was often roughly handled. For 
a while the box was upside down and he was on his 
head for miles. The members of the vigilance com- 



110 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

mittee of Philadelphia had beea informed that he 
would be started. One of the committee went to the 
depot at half past two o'clock in the morning to look 
after the box. but did not find it. The same afternoon 
he received a telegram from Richmond, "Your case of 
goods is shipped and will arrive to-morrow morning. " 

Mr. McKim, who had been engineering this under- 
taking, found it necessary to change the program, for 
it would not be safe to have the express bring it 
directly to the anti-slavery office. He went to a friend 
who was extensively engaged in mercantile business 
who was ready to aid him. This friend, Mr. Davis, 
knew all the Adams Express drivers, and it was left to 
him to pay a trusty man $5 in gold to go next morn- 
ing and bring the box directly to the anti-slavery office. 

Those present to behold the resurrection were J. M. 
McKim, Professor C. D. Cleveland, Lewis Thompson, 
and Wm. Still. The box was taken into the office. 
When the door had been safely locked, Mr. McKim 
rapped quietly on the lid of the box and called out "All 
right." Instantly came the answer from within, "All 
right, sir." Saw and hatchet soon removed the five 
hickory hoops and raised the lid of the box. Rising up 
in his box. Brown reached out his hand, saying, "How 
do you do, gentlemen." He was about as wxt as if he 
had come up out of the Delaware, He first sang the 
psalm beginning with these words : "I waited patiently 
for the Lord, and he heard my prayer. " At the home 
of Lucretia Mott he received a cordial reception, and 
was entertained for some time, when he went to Boston, 

The success of this imdcrtakmg encouraged Smith, 
who liad nailed him up in the box, to render similar 
service to two other young bondmen. But, imfortun- 
ately, in this attempt the undertaking proved a failure. 



THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAWS. 



Ill 



The young men, after being duly expressed and some 
distance on the road, were, through the agency of the 
telegraph, betrayed, and the heroic young fugitives 
were taken from the box and dragged back to helpless 
bondage. Smith was arrested and imprisoned for 
seven years in a Richmond penitentiary. He lost all 




CHARITY STILL, 

Who Twice Escaped from Slavery. 

his property, was refused witnesses on his trial, and for 
five long months, in hot weather, he was kept heavily 
chained in a cell 4x8 feet in dimensions. Mr. Smith 
had, by his efforts, aided many to gain their liberty. 
He received five stabs aimed at his heart by a bribed 
assassin. But all these things did not move him from 
his purpose. After his release he went North and was 
united in marriage at Philadelphia to a lady who had 
remained faithful to him through all his sufferings. 
Amanda Smith, in her autobiography, tells how her 



112 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

father assisted runaway slaves. * ' Our house, ' ' she says, 
"was one of the main stations of the underground 
railway. My father took the Baltimore Weekly Sun 
newspaper, that always had advertisements of runaway 
slaves. These would be directed by their friends to 
our house and we would assist them on their way to 
liberty. Excitement ran very high, and we had to be 
very discreet in order not to attract suspicion. My 
father was watched closely, as he was suspected of 
aiding slaves. After working all day in the harvest 
field he would come home at night, sleep about two 
hours, then start at midnight and walk fifteen or 
twenty miles and carry a poor slave to a place of 
security, sometimes a mother and child, sometimes 
a man and wife, then get home just before day. Thus he 
many times baffled suspicion, and never but once was 
there a poor slave taken from my father's hands, and if 
that man had told the truth he would have been saved. 
"One week the papers were full of notices of a slave 
who had run away. A heavy reward was offered, a 
number of men in our neighborhood deterimned to get 
the reward if possible. They suspected our home as a 
place of safety for the poor slave. We had concealed 
the poor fellow for about two weeks, as there was no 
possible chance for father or anyone else to get him 
away, so closely were we watched. One day four men 
came on horseback. As father saw them he called to 
mother that four men were coming. He met them 
and they demanded of him to know whether he had a 
nigger there. Father said, 'If I tell you I have not 
you won't believe me, if I tell you I have it will not 
satisfy you, so search for yourself. ' Mother had in the 
meantime concealed him between the cords and the 
straw tick. The men searched the house, looked under 



THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAWS. 113 

the bed, and satisfied themselves that he was not there ; 
thus we succeeded in saving him from slavery. ' ' 

William and Ellen Craft were slaves in the state of 
Georgia. The desire to become free became so strong 
that they commenced planning to escape. Ellen, being 
fair, would pass for a white man, and was to act the part 
of master, while William was to be the servant. She 
dressed in a fashionable suit of male attire, and was to 
pass as a young planter. But Ellen was beardless. 
After mature reflection her face was muffled up as 
though the young planter was suffering from a face or 
toothache. In order to prevent the method of register- 
ing at hotels, Ellen put her right arm in a sling, put on 
green spectacles, and pretended to be very hard of 
hearing and dependent upon the faithful servant. 

Ellen, disguised as a young planter, was to have 
nothing to do but to hold herself subject to her ail- 
ments and put on the air of superiority. The servant 
was always ready to explain in case of inquiry. They 
stopped at first-class hotels in Charleston, Richmond 
and Baltimore, and arrived safely in Philadelphia, 
where the rheumatism disappeared, her right arm was 
unslung, her toothache was gone, the beardless face was 
unmuffled, the deaf heard and spoke, the blind saw. 
The strain on Ellen's nerves, however, had tried her 
severely, and she was physically prostrated for some 
time. Her husband, William, was thoroughly colored, 
and was a man of marked ability and good manners, 
and full of pluck. They were sent to Boston, where 
they lived happily until the fugitive slave law was 
passed. Then slave hunters from Macon, Georgia, 
were soon, on their track, but the sympathy of friends 
in Boston would not permit their being returned to 
Georgia. It was, however, considered best for them 



114 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

to seek a country where they would not be in daily 
fear of slave capturers, backed by the United States 
Government. They were therefore sent by their 
friends to Great Britain. 

In England the Crafts were highly respected. After 
the emancipation they returned to the United States 
with two children, and, after visiting Boston and 
neighboring places, William purchased a plantation 
near Savannah, and is living there with his family. 

Emancipators Tried. — Those who aided slaves in 
their struggle for liberty were often tried and impris- 
oned. Many of them lost all of their property and 
suffered much from the hands of slave dealers. 

Seth Concklin's noble and daring spirit induced him 
to put forth the most strenuous efforts to redeem a 
family of slaves. He learned to know Peter Still and 
found that his wife and children were still in Alabama 
in bondage. After considering the hazardous under- 
taking, he decided to make an attempt to bring the 
wife and children of Peter Still to the North. He went 
South, laid his plans well, and succeeded in carrying 
the family for seven days and seven nights in his skiff, 
then traveled hundreds of miles on foot. They at last 
reached Vincennes, Indiana. By this time the adver- 
tisements of the runaway slaves had spread all over the 
country, and at Vincennes they were arrested and 
taken South to their former owner. 

Imagine the state of mind of these enslaved ones, 
whr), after having endured so many hardships and pain, 
so near to freedom's territory, were caught and returned 
to slavery. Seth Concklin was brutally murdered on 
the way south. 

Thus we might give numerous cases where slaves 
were secreted for months and endured the greatest 



THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAWS. 115 

hardships and were willing rather to meet death than 
to remain in slavery. Several girls made their escape 
in male attire, some secreted themselves in woods, 
traveling at night. Others succeeded in having friends 
hide them in steamers, but the underground railroad, 
with all its stations and well-planned schemes, suc- 
ceeded often in defeating the plans of the slave hunt- 
ers. As soon as a slave ran away papers were filled 
with advertisements and rewards were offered for their 
return. In this way many were looking for slaves so 
as to secure the rewards, making the escape of some 
more difficult. One cannot read such books as "The 
Underground Railroad, by Wm. Still, ' ' or the story of 
Peter Still, the kidnapped and the ransomed, without 
sincere thankfulness that slavery is ended, and that a 
man is a man without respect to the color of his skin. 

Slave Population. — In 1800 the slave population was 
over 900,000; in 1830 it had reached about 2,000,000; 
in 1840 it was estimated to be about 2,500,000; and in 
1850 it was about 3,000,000. In i860 the aggregate 
Negro population in the United States was about 
4, 5 00, 000, of which about 4, 000, 000 were slaves. Nearly 
3,000,000 of the slaves were in the rural districts of the 
South. Southern prosperity depended upon the prod- 
uct of slave labor, which amounted to about $140,000,- 
000 per year. It can be readily seen that the Civil 
War, which commenced in 1861, was destined to shake 
the very foundation of Southern civilization. While 
both North and South .attempted to keep the real 
cause of the war in the background the maxim, "No 
question is settled until it is settled right," asserted 
itself here, and no real progress was made in the war 
until the Northern leaders acknowledged slavery as the 
issue, and met the question direct by freeing all slaves. 




ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE NEGRO IN THE CIVIL WAR. 

The part enacted by Negro troops in the War of the 
Rebellion is the romance of North American history. 

Number Enrolled. — The records of the v/ar depart- 
ment show that there were 178,595 colored men regu- 
larly enlisted as soldiers in the Union army during the 
rebellion who by their good conduct established a 
commendable record and did efficient service in camp, 
fortress and field. The first enlistment of Negroes was 
by Gen. Hunter in the Department of the South in 
June, 1862. It was made without the authority of the 
War Department and was due to an emergency. Gen. 
Hunter needed men. 

Ready for Enlistment. — At the sound of the tocsin 
at the North the Negro waiter, barber, cook, groom, 
porter, boot-black, and laborer, stood ready at the 
enlisting office ; although the recruiting officer refused 
to take his name he waited patiently for the prejudice 
to be removed, waited two long years before the door 
was opened, but even then he did not hesitate but 
walked in, and with what effect the world knows. 

Opposition to Enlistment. — From the beginning 
there was great opposition to enlisting the Negro in 
the army. The Northerners even went so far as to 
return runaway Negroes to their owners, while the 
South kept the Negro on the plantation. The Confed- 
erates, however, found it no easy task to watch the 
Negro and the Yankee too ; their attention could be 
given to but one at a time; as a slave expressed it, 

117 



118 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

"When Marsa watch the Yankee, nigger go — when 
Marsa watch the nigger, Yankee come." 

Objections.— The "New York Times," of February 
i 6, 1 863, in an editorial summed up the objections to en- 
listing the Negroes as follows : ' ' First, that the Negroes 
will not fight. Second, it is said -that the whites will 
not fight with them. Third, that the prejudice against 
them is so strong that our citizens will not enlist or 
will quit the service if compelled to fight by their side, 
and thus we shall lose two white soldiers for one black 
one that we gain. Fourth, it is said that we shall get 
no Negroes — or not enough to be of any service. 
In the free states very few will volunteer, and in the 
slave states we can get but few because the rebels will 
push them southward as fast as we advance upon them. 
Fifth, the use of the Negroes will exasperate the South. 
We presume it will — but so will any other scheme we 
may adopt which is warlike and effective in its charac- 
ter and results. We are not ready with Mr. Vallandin- 
ham, to advocate immediate and unconditional peace! 
The best thing we can do is to possess ourselves in 
patience while the experiment is being tried." 

The President and Secretary of War and a large 
majority of the generals in the army acted on the 
theory, "This is a white man's war, and the Negro has 
n(j lot or part in it. " 

They seemed to be ignorant of the fact that slavery 
was the real cause of the war, and hence held to the 
principal that all runaway slaves must be returned to 
their owners by the Union army. 

General Hunter. — To General David Hunter, com- 
manding the army in the South, is given the honor of 
organizing the first southern colored regiment. He 
could not get white recruits and was surrounded by a 



THE NEGRO IN THE CIVIL WAR. 119 

multitude of able-bodied Negroes who were idle, but 
anxious to serve as soldiers. In advance of public 
opinion he organized a regiment and was called to 
account for it by the Secretary of War. He replied 
that he had instructions to employ all loyal persons in 
defense of the Union and the suppression of the 
rebellion, and hence was not limited as to color. He 
informed the secretary that loyal slaves everywhere 
remained on their plantations to welcome them, aid 
them, supply the army with food and information, and 
since they were the only men who were loyal, he had 
organized them into a regiment and appointed officp^er 
to drill them. He closed with these words :^^''*^he 
experiment of arming the blacks, so far as I have 
made, has been a complete and even marvelous suc- 
cess. They are sober, docile, attentive and enthusias- 
tic; displaying great natural capacities for acquiring 
the duties of the soldier. They are eager, beyond all 
things, to take the field and be led into action ; and it 
is the unanimous opinion of the officers who have 
charge of them that in the peculiarities of this climate 
and country they will prove invaluable auxiliaries. 'J -' 

Mr. Wyckliff created a scene in the house by de- 
nouncing General Hunter and declaring that the enlist- 
ments of Negroes was an insult to every white soldier 
in the army. Nevertheless Congress authorized the Pres- 
ident to enlist "persons of African descent," but pro- 
vided that they should be used as laborers in the camps 
and forts, and were not to be allowed to bear arms. 

After a Year. — Towards the close of 1862 the war 
clouds were still growing thicker. The Union army 
had won few victories ; the Northern troops had to fight 
in a tropical climate, the forces of nature and an arro- 
gant, jubilant and victorious enemy, but in the face of 



120 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

all these discouraging features the President still held 
to his views of managing the war without bringing the 
subject of slavery to the front. In reply to a deputa- 
tion of gentlemen from Chicago, who urged a more 
vigorous policy of emancipation, the President denied 
the request and stated: "The subject is difficult and 
good men do not agree. For instance : The other day, 
four gentlemen of standing and intelligence from New 
York called as a delgation on business connected with 
the war ; but before leaving two of them earnestly be- 
sought me to proclaim general emancipation, upon 
which the other two at once attacked them. You know 
also that the last session of Congress had a decided ma- 
jority of anti-slavery men, yet they could not unite upon 
this policy. And the same is true of the religious people. 
Why, the rebel soliders are praying with a great deal 
more earnestness, I fear, than our own troops, and 
expecting God to favor their side; for one of our 
soldiers, who had been taken prisoner, told Senator 
Wilson a few days since that he met nothing so discour- 
aging as the evident sincerity of the prayers of those 
he was among." 

Pie admitted that slavery was at the root of the 
rebellion, but was not willing to act, but just nine days 
from that time when he thought a proclamation not 
warranted and impracticable, he issued his first Emanci- 
Dation Proclamation. 

Public Opinion Changes. — When the Union men 
began to see the worth of the Negro to the Confederate 
army in throwing up breastworks that were often 
almost impregnable, they began to complain that the 
Negro with his pick and spade was a greater hindrance 
to their progress than the cannon ball of the enemy ; 
slowly but surely public opinion changed. Congress 




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122 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

prohibited the surrender of the Negroes to the rebels, 
the President issued his Emancipation Proclamation 
aid the Negroes were rapidly enlisted. 

In the Union Ranks. — Charles Sumner says: "Those 
who have declaimed loudest against the employment of 
Negro troops have shown a lamentable amount of 
ignorance, and an equally lamentable lack of common 
sense. They know as little of the military history and 
martial qualities of the African race as they do of their 
own duties as commanders. All distinguished generals 
of modern times who have had opportunity to use 
Negro soldiers have uniformly applauded their subor- 
dination, bravery, and power of endurance. Washing- 
ton solicited the military services of Negroes in the 
Revolution, and rewarded them. Jackson did the same 
in the War of 1812. Under both these great captains 
the Negro troops fought so well that they received 
imstinted praise." 

Confederate Measures. — The enlistment of Negroes 
in the Northern army changed the policy of the South, 
and public opinion, now so strongly endorsed in the 
North, affected the rebels, who soon passed a measure 
for arming 200,000 Negroes themselves. 

In the Navy. — In the navy a different course was 
pursued from the first. Negroes were readily accepted 
all along the coasts on board the war vessels, this being 
no departure from the regular and established practice 
in the service. 

Official Authority. — General Rufus Saxon was the 
first officer to receive official authority to enlist Negroes 
as soldiers. On the 26th of August, 1862, the Secre- 
tary of War ordered him to proceed to the Department 
of the South and organize 5,000 troops of ''African 
descent," which were to be designated for service in 



THE NEGRO IN THE CIVIL WAR. 129* 

garrisons not in danger of attack by the enemy, to 
relieve white regiments whose terms of enlistment had 
expired. But one of General Saxon's first acts after 
recruiting a regiment was to send it on a foraging 
expedition into the enemy's country. The result was 
entirely satisfactory. The colored men proved to be 
remarkably good foragers, and brought in more sup- 
plies than three times the number of white men could 
have secured. 

Recruiting Offices. — Recruiting stations were estab- 
lished throughout the South, and officers were sent out 
to enlist slaves. In these journeys through the country 
officers often met with strange experiences. Recruits 
were taken wherever found, and as their earthly pos- 
sessions usually consisted of but what they wore upon 
their backs, they required no time to settle their 
affairs. The laborer in the field would lay down his 
hoe, or leave his plow, and march away with the 
guard. On one occasion a large plantation was visited 
and the proprietor asked to call in his slaves; he com- 
plied, and when they were asked if they wished to 
enlist replied that they did, and fell into the ranks 
with the guard. As they started away the old man 
turned and, with tears in his eyes, said: ''Will yO'U 
take them all? Here I am an old man; I cannot work; 
my crops are ungathered, my Negroes have all enlisted 
or run away, and what am I to do?" Several recruit- 
ing officers were tarred and feathered and others were 
shot. Several officers were dismissed from the army 
for refusing to command Negro troops ; others resigned 
in preference to doing so. 

Indignation. — Although the Confederates anticipated 
the Federal government in the employment of Negroes 
as military forces, they exhibited a good deal of indig- 

9 Progress. 



124 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

nation when their example was followed, and the 
Records of the Confederate Congress show some sensa- 
tional measures of retaliation threatened against the 
government of the United States on this account. 
It was proposed, among other things, to raise the black 
flag against Negro soldiers and white officers who com- 
manded them, and in some cases this retaliation was 
enforced, as at Port Pillow, but finally the Confederate 
Congress formally recognized the usefulness of the 
Negro as a soldier as well as a laborer, and authorized 
President Davis to enlist an unlimited number of col- 
ored troops. 

Governor Yates. — This fact was commented upon by- 
Governor Yates, of Illinois, in a message he sent to the 
legislature of that state, as a most extraordinary phe- 
nomenon in history. He said the leaders of the insur- 
rection had called upon the cause of the insurrection 
to save it, and had recognized the intelligence and 
manhood of the despised race by lifting it to a level 
with themselves. A wise providence, he said, was 
directing the destiny of the Confederates, so that they 
will terminate the very evil they are fighting to main- 
tain. Slavery was to be the corner stone of their new 
Confederacy, but, says Governor Yates, a man who has 
been a soldier will never be a slave. 

Discrimination. — In the matter of pay there was for 
a long time discrimination against the Negro troops. 
While the troops of the regular army were paid $13.00 
per month, the Negroes received but $10.00, three of 
which was deducted on account of clothing. Some 
regiments refused to receive $10.00 per month and 
others were paid in full. The injustice done the Negro 
soldier in this discrimination was often a violation 
of a solemn and written pledge of the govern- 




ON PICKET DUTY. 



125 



12(3 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

ment that declared that they should receive the same 
pay and allowances as the white men. In definite 
terms, Congress and the War Department was de- 
nounced 4S the enemy of the Negro in this discrimina- 
tion. All honor to the Fifty-fourth colored regiment 
of Massachusetts that refused to receive the $7.00 per 
month until the authorities were driven to give equal 
pay to Negroes and whites. 

General Butler. — Nearly all the generals of the army 
opposed the enlistment of the Negro. General Phelps, 
stationed at Louisiana, made a bold fight for the 
Negro, and attempted to enlist them in and around 
New Orleans, but being so strongly opposed by General 
Butler, he was forced to resign and return to his home. 

The sentiment of the North seemed to admit the 
right of the South to hold slaves. That General Butler 
afterwards entirely changed his opinion is seen by his 
speech on the floor of Congress, when he said: "It 
became my painful duty, sir, to follow in the track of 
the charging column, and there, in a space not wider 
than the clerk's desk, and three hundred yards long, 
lay the dead bodies of three hundred and fifty-three of 
my colored comrades, slain in the defense of their 
country, who laid down their lives to uphold its flag 
and its honor as a willing sacrifice ; and as I rode along 
among them, guiding my horse this way and that way 
lest he should profane with his hoofs what seemed to 
me the sacred dead, and as I looked on their bronzed 
faces upturned in the shining sun as if in mute appeal 
against the wrongs of the country for which they had 
given their lives, and whose flag had only been to them 
a flag of stripes on which no star of glory had ever shone 
for them — feeling I had wronged them in the past, and 
believing what was the future of my country to them 



THE NEGRO IN THE CIVIL WAR. 127 

— among- my dead comrades there I swore myself a 
solemn oath: 'May my right hand forget its cunning, 
and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I 
ever fail to defend the rights of those men who have 
given their blood for me and my country this day, and 
for their race forever;' and, God helping me, I will 
keep this oath. " 

President Lincoln, when urged by Dr. Patton, of 
Chicago, to press the Negro into service said: **If 
we were to arm them, I fear that within a few weeks, 
the arms would be in the hands of the rebels. ' ' 

In Congress. — In Congress a bill was passed to raise 
and equip 150,000 soldiers of African descent. Colonel 
T. Higginson now watched the acts of Congress and 
ascended the St. John's river in Florida and captured 
Jacksonville, which had been abandoned by white 
Union troops. 

The New York Tribune said: "Drunkenness, the 
bane of our army, does not exist among our black 
troops." "Nor have I yet discovered the slightest 
ground of inferiority to white troops. ' ' 

Prejudice Broken Down. — The bravery and excel- 
lence of the Negro in the battlefield soon broke down 
prejudices against the Negro on the part of the white 
officers, and it was not long before 100,000 Negroes 
were found in the Union ranks. 

Colonel Shaw. — Colonel Shaw commanded the first 
colored regiment organized in the free states, the 
Fifty-fourth Massachusetts, and it was this regiment 
that played such an important part in the attempt to 
take Fort Wagner. After making a forced effort and 
march for a day and a night, through swamps and 
drenching rains, without food or rest, hungry and 
fatigued they reached General Strong's headquarters on 



128 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

that memorable morning, just as they were forming 
into line of battle. Colonel Shaw made a thrilling 
patriotic speech to his men, and, after a most desperate 
and gallant fight, succeeded in planting the regimental 
flag on the works. The Negro color bearer, John Wall, 
was killed. But. Wm. H. Carney seized it, and, after 
receiving several wounds, one of which mangled his 
arm brouirht the flag to the standard with his own 
blood on it and shouted, "Boys, the old flag never 
touched the ground." 

Fort Wagner.— M. S. Littlefield, in writing of Fort 
Wagner says: "Sergeant W. H. Carney, Company C, 
writes he was with the first battalion, which was in 
the advance of the storming column. He received the 
regimental colors, pressed forward to the front rank, 
near the colonel, who was leading the men over the 
ditch. He says, as they ascended the wall of the fort, 
the ranks were full, but as soon as they reached the top 
'they melted away' before the enemy's fire ^almost 
instantly. ' He received a severe wound in the thigh, 
but fell upon his knees. He planted the flag upon the 
parapet, lay down on the outer slope, that he might 
get as much shelter as possible ; there he remained for 
over an hour, till the second brigade came up. He 
kept the colors flying until the second conflict was 
ended. When our forces retired he followed, creeping 
upon one knee, still holding up the flag. It was thus 
that Sergeant Carney came from the field, having held 
the emblem of liberty over the walls of Fort Wagner 
during the sanguinary conflict of the two brigades, and 
having received two very severe wounds, one in the 
thigh and one in the head. Still he refused to give up 
his sacred trust until he found an officer of his regi- 
ment. 




SERGEANT WM. H. CARNEY. 



130 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

"When he entered the field hospital, where his 
wounded comrades were being brought in, they cheered 
him and the colors. Though nearly exhausted with 
the loss of blood, he said: *Boys, the old flag never 
touched the ground. ' Of him as a man and soldier I 
can speak in the highest terms of praise. ' ' 

MillikenBend.— "Tauntingly it has been said that 
Negroes won't fight. Who say it, and who but a 
dastard and brute will dare to say it, when the battle 
of Milliken's Bend finds its place among the heroic 
deeds of this war? This battle has significance. It 
demonstrated the fact that the freed slaves will fight. " 

General Grant says of Milliken Bend: "This was 
the first important engagement of the war in which 
colored troops were under fire. These men were very 
raw, perhaps all had been enlisted since the beginning 
of the siege, but they behaved well. " 

First Colored Regiment. — The first colored regiment 
raised in New Orleans under General Butler, after 
remaining in camp for about six months, were quite 
efficient in the use of arms. It was then ordered to 
report to General Dwight. Its commanding officer, 
Colonel Stafford, was disabled, and was not permitted 
to go with the regiment. Before the regiment left the 
officers assembled at the quarters of Colonel Stafford. 
The colored guared marched up to receive the regi- 
mental flags. Colonel Stafford made a speech full of 
patriotism and feeling, and concluded by saying: 
"Colored guard, protect, defend, die for it, but do not 
surrender these flags." The reply of the sergeant 
was, "Colonel, I will bring back these colors to you in 
honor, or report to God the reason why." 

Port Hudson.— At Port Hudson, "the deeds of hero- 
ism performed by these colored men were such as the 



THE NEGRO IN THE CIVIL WAR. 131 

proudest white men might emLulate, Their colors were 
torn to pieces by shot, and literally bespattered by 
blood and brains. The color-sergeant of the First 
Louisiana, on being mortally wounded, hugged the 
colors to his breast, when a struggle ensued between 
the two color-corporals on each side of him as to who 
should have the honor of bearing the sacred standard, 
and during this generous contention one was seriously 
wounded. One black lieutenant actually mounted the 
enemy's works three or four times, and in one charge 
the assaulting party came within fifty paces of them. 
Indeed, if only ordinarily supported by artillery and 
reserve, no one can convince us that they would not 
have opened a passage through the enemy's works. 

"Captain Callioux, of the First Louisiana, a man so 
black that he actually prided himself on his blackness, 
died the death of a hero, leading on his men in the 
thickest of the fight. One poor wounded fellow came 
along with his arm shattered by a shell, and jauntily 
swinging it with the other, as he said to a friend of 
mine: 'Massa, guess I can fight no more.' I was with 
one of the captains, looking after the wounded going to 
the rear of the hospital, when we met one limping 
towards the front. On being asked where he was 
going, he said : ' I have been shot bad in the leg, cap- 
tain, and dey want me to go to the hospital, but I guess 
I can gib 'em some more yet. ' I could go on filling 
your columns with startling facts of this kind, but I 
hope I have told enough to prove that we can hereafter 
rely upon black arms as well as white in crushing this 
infernal rebellion. I long ago told you there was an 
army of 250,000 men ready to leap forward in defense 
of freedom at the first call. You know where to find 
them and what they are worth. ' ' 



132 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

"Although repulsed in an attempt which, situated as 
things were, was all but impossible, these regiments, 
though badly cut up, are still on hand, and burning with 
a passion ten times hotter from their fierce baptism of 
blood. Who knows but that it is a black hand which 
shall first plant the standard of the republic upon the 
doomed ramparts of Port Hudson. " 

In the Mississippi Valley.— In many engagements of 
the Mississippi valley the colored soldiers won for them- 
selves lasting glory and golden opinions from the 
officers and men of white organizations. 

The Battle of Wilson's Wharf.— The following ac- 
count is given : "At first the fight raged fiercely on the 
left. The woods were riddled with bullets; the dead 
and wounded of the rebels were taken away from this 
part of the field, but I am informed by one accustomed 
to judge, and who went over the fields today, that from 
the pools of blood and other evidences, the loss must 
have been severe. Finding that the left could not be 
broken, Fitz-Hugh Lee hurled his cavalry — dismounted 
of course — upon the right. Steadily they came on, 
through obstruction, through slashing, past abattis 
without wavering. Here one of the advantages of the 
colored troops was made apparent. They obeyed 
orders, and bided their time. When well tangled in 
the abattis the death warrant, "Fire," went forth. 
Southern chivalry quailed before Northern balls, though 
fired by Negro hands. Volley after volley was rained 
upon the superior by the inferior race, and the chivalry 
broke and tried to run." 

Petersburg. — This was a stronghold of the Confed- 
eracy. To dislodge them tons of powder were buried 
near their lines. It was to be exploded and in the con- 
sequent confusion in the Confederate ranks a charge 




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13-4 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

was to be made and capture their forces. Four thou- 
sand four hundred Negro braves were on hand to do 
this work. The refusal to allow them to do so, many 
believe, lost the day to the Union army. Ah ! but the 
black braves that day proved that they were willing- to 
fieht, bleed and die for their kindred in chains so 
cruelly forged. Black men fell on the very parapet of 
the enemy's works, in a hand-to-hand fight with their 
white antagonists. The soil was saturated in the 
blood of the colored valiants. When Petersburg did 
fall into Federal hands, and Richmond followed later, 
Negro soldiers were among the first to enter the field 
and claim these cities in the name of the Federal gov- 
ernment. Close on the fall of these Confederate cities 
Lee surrendered at Appomatox under the shade of the 
old apple tree. Thus ended the war, leaving our brave 
black heroes covered with glory crowned with imper- 
ishable laurels. When, therefore, the last drum shall 
beat, the last bugle note shall sound, and the roll call 
of nations shall be heard, and the names of Phillips, 
Leonidas, Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, Napoleon and 
Wellington are sounded on the lips of the worshipers 
of heroes, with equal praise shall be heard the name 
of Attucks, Peter Salem, Captain Cailloux, Colonel 
Shaw the talented, and Toussaint L' Overture. A race 
with such indomitable courage, under such discourage- 
ments, must have under God a future inspiring and 
glorious. 

General Smith on Petersburg, — "The hardest fight- 
ing was done by the black troops. The forts they 
stormed were the worst of all. After the affair was over 
General Smith went to thank them, and tell them he was 
proud of their courage and dash. He said : 'They can- 
not be exceeded as soldiers, and that hereafter he 



THE NEGRO IN THE CIVIL WAR. 135 

will enter them in a difficult place as readily as the 
best. " ' 

"The charge on the advanced works was made in 
splendid style, and as the 'dusky warriors' stood shout- 
ing upon the parapet, General Smith decided that 
*they would do,' and sent word to storm the first 
redoubt. Steadily these troops moved on, led by 
officers whose unostentatious bravery is worthy of 
emulation. With a shout and rousing cheers they 
dashed at the redoubt. Grape and canister were 
hurled at them by the infuriated rebels. They grinned 
and pushed on, and with a yell that told the Southern 
chivalry their doom, rolled irresistibly over into the 
work. The guns were speedily turned upon those of 
our 'misguided brethren,' who forgot that discretion 
was the better part of valor. Another redoubt was 
carried in the same splendid style, and the Negroes 
have established a reputation that they will surely 
maintain. 

"Officers on General Hancock's staff, as they rode by 
the redoubt surrounded by a moat with water in it, 
over which these Negroes charged, admitted that its 
capture was a most gallant affair. The Negroes bear 
their wounds quite as pluckily as the white soldiers. ' ' 

Adjutant General L. Thomas pays the following 
tribute to the Negro soldiers: "On several occasions 
when on the Mississippi river, I contemplated writing 
to you respecting the colored troops, and to suggest 
that, as they have been fully tested as soldiers, their 
pay should be raised to that of white troops, and I 
desire now to give my testimony in their behalf. You 
are aware that I have been engaged in the organization 
of freedmen for over a year, and have necessarily been 
thrown in contact with their orders. 



136 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Strict Obedience. — "The Negro, in a state of slav- 
ery, is broug-ht up by the master from early childhood 
to strict obedience and to obey implicitly the dictates 
of the white man, and they are thus led to believe that 
they are an inferior race. Now, when organized into 
troops, they carry their habits of obedience with them, 
and their officers, being entirely white men, the Negroes 
promptly obey them. 

Important Addition. — "A regiment is thus rapidly 
brought into a state of discipline. They are a religious 
people — another high quality for making good soldiers. 
They are a musical people, and thus readily learn to 
march and accurately perform their maneuvers. They 
take pride in being elevated as soldiers, and keep them- 
selves, as their camp grounds, neat and clean. This I 
know from special inspection, two of my staff officers 
being constantly on inspecting duty. They have proved 
a most important addition to our forces, enabling the 
Generals in active operations to take a large force of 
white troops into the field ; and now brigades of blacks 
are placed with the whites. The forts erected at the 
important points on the river are nearly all garrisoned 
by blacks — artillery regiments raised for the purpose, 
say at Paducah and Columbus', Kentucky; Memphis, 
Tennessee ; Vicksburg and Natchez, Mississippi, and 
most of the works around New Orleans. 

Heavy Guns. — "Experience proves that they manage 
the heavy guns very well. Their fighting qualities 
have also been fully tested a number of times, and I 
have yet to hear of the first case where they did not 
fully stand up to their work. I passed over the ground 
where the First Louisiana made the gallant charge at 
Port Hudson, by far the stronger part of the rebel 
works. The wonder is that so many have made their 




GENERAI, EDWARD JOHNSON AND G. H. STEWART AS PRISONERS 
IN CHARGE OF. A FORMER SLAVE. 



137 



138 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

escape. At Milliken's Bend, where I had three incom- 
plete regiments — one without arms until the day prev- 
ious to the attack — greatly superior numbers of the 
rebels charged furiously up to the very breastwork. 
The Negroes met the enemy on the ramparts, and both 
sides freely used the bayonet, a most rare occurrence 
in warfare, as one or the other party gives way before 
comine in contact with the steel. The rebels were 
defeated with heavy loss. The bridge at Moscow, on 
the line of railroad from Memphis to Corinth, was 
defended by one small regiment of blacks. A cavalry 
attack of three times their number was made, the 
blacks defeating them in three charges made by the 
rebels." 

General S. 0. Armstrong, who for years was at the 
head of Hampton Institute, says: "Two and one-half 
years' service with Negro soldiers (half a year as 
captain and major in the One Hundred and Twentieth 
New York Volunteers) as lieutenant-colonel and 
colonel of the Ninth and Eighth regiments of the 
United States colored troops, convinced me of the excel- 
lent qualities and capacities of the freedmen. Their 
quick response to good treatment, and to discipline, 
was a constant surprise. Their tidiness, devotion to 
their duty and their leaders, their dash and daring in 
battle, and ambition to improve, even studying their 
spelling books under fire, showed that slavery was a 
false, though doubtless for the time being an educative, 
condition, and that they deserve as good a chance as 
any people. 

A Cavalry Force. — "A cavalry force of three hun- 
dred and fifty attacked three hundred rebel cavalry 
near the Big Black with signal success, a number of 
prisoners being taken and marched to Vicksburg. 



THE NEGRO IN THE CIVIL WAR. 139 

Forrest attacked Paducah with 7,500 men. The garri- 
son was between 500 and 600, nearly 400 being colored 
troops recently raised. What troops could have done 
better? So, too, they fought well at Fort Pillow till 
overpowered by greatly superior numbers. The 
above enumerated cases seem to be sufficient to de- 
monstrate the value of the colored troops." 

Few of Many Tributes. — These are but few of the 
many tributes that generals and white leaders have 
cheerfully given to the loyalty, valor and bravery of 
the colored troops during the w^ar. George Williams 
truly says: "No officer, whose privilege it was to com- 
mand or observe the conduct of these troops, has ever 
hesitated to give a full and cheerful endorsement of 
their worth as men, their loyalty as Americans, and 
their eminent qualifications for the duties and dangers 
of military life. No history of the war has ever been 
written without mentioning the patience, endurance, 
fortitude, and heroism of the Negro soldiers who 
prayed, wept, fought, bled and died for the preserva- 
tion of the Union of the UnitecJ States of America." 

Items of Interest. — History records the fact that 
during the late rebellion the Negro soldiers partici- 
pated in more than four hundred engagements. 

There were between four and five hundred Negro 
soldiers who were engaged in the battle of New 
Orleans. 

About 6,000 Negroes were connected in different 
ways with the Confederate army. 

The first colored regiment to enter the services of 
the rebellion was the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Vol- 
unteers. 

In Present Service. — At present time there are four 
regiments of colored men in the regular service, two 

10 Progress 



140 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

of cavalry and two of infantry. They are commanded 
by white officers and have done very good service in 
Indian warfare. Their constitutions endure the heat 
of the Southern states much better than those of the 
white men, and they have been particularly valuable 
along the Mexican border. 

In Military Academy.— James Smith, of Columbia, 
S. C, was the first colored student to enter the U. S. 
military academy at New York. Up to date there 
were ten colored cadets admitted, of whom three 
graduated. 

Colored Soldiers of Georgia.— The colored soldiers 
of the state are pleading for proper aid from the state 
they have enlisted to defend. They deserve help, 
if the following letter be true, which was written 
by one of the oldest colored soldiers in the state. 

"The colored soldiers of Georgia have maintained 
their military organizations for twenty-six years. At 
the re-organization of the state militia in 1888, there 
were forty-seven colored companies of infantry uni- 
formed and equipped by themselves at a cost of not 
less than $25,000. Besides this, they furnished their 
own armories, fuel and lights, the cost of which, added 
to the above, would makie the amount spent by the 
colored soldiers themselves for their support and for 
an opportunity to assist in defending the state for a 
period of twenty-six years, more than $95,000. This 
money has come from the poor or average colored citi- 
zen, as the majority of colored soldiers come from that 
class of our people. Though these men are Georgians, 
they love their name, they love their honor, and they 
are willing to lay down their lives in the defense of 
her soil. All they ask at the hands of those in power 
is to treat them as citizens and as soldiers. 



CHAPTER VII. 

MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 

Hon. Frederick Douglass once said in a great pub- 
lic meeting in New York: "The colored race will not 
crawl in the dirt forever. It is honorable to do white- 
washing, but there is no reason why my people should 
do that and nothing else. The day will come in which 
they will be found in all pursuits, achieving distinction 
and showing capabilities which they were never sup- 
posed to possess. The destiny of the colored race is in 
their own hands, they must bear and suffer, they must 
toil and be patient, they must carve their own f(?>rtunes, 
and they will do it. ' ' 

Statement Verified. — Thirty-five years have gone 
since the shackles of the slave were broken. Is the 
truth of Mr. Douglass' statement being verified? Look 
at the colored race of that time, grossly ignorant, desti- 
tute of clothing, without homes, without name, perse- 
cuted, forced to bear much on account of the prejudices 
against color. This despised race to-day after so few 
years has made progress such as history nowhere else 
records. Although much remains to be done, yet to- 
day we find the Negro recognized as a man, having the 
sympathy and respect of all, filling important and hon- 
orable positions throughout the land ; greatly improved 
and exalted in his home life ; recognizing that he has a 
part to do in the elevation of his race, aiming at the 
highest success, and determined to stand among the 
best citizens and the most useful members of society. 
He is determined that there shall be no better schools 
than his own, no grander statesmen, no more success- 

141 



142 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

fill business men, none better known in the professional 
life, no happier homes, no more cultivated women, 
none better, more moral, upright and righteous than 
his own. Look at that picture and then at this, and the 
fact that the Negro is rapidly rising will dawn at once 
upon the most skeptical of minds. 

Hopeless Condition.— Prof . Bowen says : "When the 
famous edict of freedom went forth on January i, 1863, 
the Negro, instead of being born into a state of liberty 
and freedom, was damned into it. For well-nigh eight 
generations he had been worked like dumb, driven 
cattle and punished like a brute, crushed with the iron 
hoof of oppression and repression; whipped, torn, 
bleeding in body, mind and soul ; day after day, year 
after year, he had toiled, sweated, groaned and wept, 
but there had been no hope of reward to lighten his 
burdens. He had no wife, no children, no altar; no 
home, no hope, no purpose ; no motive, no aspiration, 
no thought, no life, but he had a God. He was a thing, 
a dog, a brute, an animal. His notions, even among 
his preachers, were crude ; he had seen her whom he 
had desired to call his wife torn from his side, insulted, 
degraded, banished; he had looked upon his fondlings 
with an indescribable heartache as they were sold from 
under his eye ; he had been trained in theft, dishonesty 
and duplicity; he had drank deeply from the bitter 
waters of crime and lewdness. He was ignorant of the 
duties, and even privileges of Christianity, and of the 
responsibilities and possibilities of the family life. 
Thus he walked forth on that famous morn, out from 
the tomb of his living and torturing death, with abso- 
lutely nothing in his hands, his head, his heart, his 
pocket, and he went forth to try his fortunes in a new 
world. 



MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 143 

Freedom Gave Him His Hands. — Freedom gave him 
his hands and his wife to start with, two great boons ; 
with the hand to chip out his place and to work with a 
royal will, and with a wife to build his altar and weave 
his destiny, he is endowed as never before. Hence 
the Negro at the close of the war, was all that Ameri- 
can slavery would make any people, viz., bestialized 
and animalized; ignorant, poor, crude, rude, helpless, 
moneyless and thoughtless. American slavery was not 
a blessing ; it was a curse. The good that came to the 
Negro (and there was good even in so baneful contact) 
came in spite of slavery. "Endeavor, then, to com- 
bine the whole in one view — to take in the full idea of 
this mighty mass of evil, in all the suffering of mind 
and body which it inflicts, in all its brutalizing effects 
and demoralizing tendencies on the slave and on his 
master — the misery which it entails on man, and the 
guilt which incurs in the sight of God — and you will 
have some conception of the multiplied and horrifying 
evils of slavery. ' ' 

Not Surpassed in History. — This view represents 
the status of the Negro at the close of the war. No 
other slavery in all history has ever succeeded to so 
great an extent as has this American slavery in degrad- 
ing the women of a race and in corrupting the fountain 
of every virtue; and were it not that the gospel is all 
conquering and all purifying, we would be hopeless. 

Degraded by Compulsion, — "The slave Negro, " says 
Professor Bowen, "was taught by precept and authori- 
tative commandment, as well as trained by example and 
driven by the merciless lash, to commit adultery and 
fornication, and to live in the murky and unrestrained 
passions of the flesh that rush on through the open 
sluices of libertinism and shame down through the 



144 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

gates of hell. Who dare deny it, and will buttress that 
denial with fact? A thousand trustworthy witnesses 
will confirm it, who carry in their minds and souls the 
imprint of that lustful period, and who can speak that 
which they do know and testify to what they have seen 
and felt. " President Dewey, of William and Mary 
College, in Virginia, speaking of the slave trade, says: 
"It furnishes every inducement to the master to attend 
to his Negroes, to encourage breeding and to cause the 
greatest number of slaves to be raised. " "Virginia is, 
indeed, a Negro-raising state for other states." "The 
noblest blood of Virginia," says Paxton in a letter to 
Jay, "runs in the blood of her slaves. " The slave had 
no marriage or family rights. Dr. Taylor, in his 
"Elements of the Civil Law," says: "Slaves were not 
entitled to the condition of matrimony, and therefore 
had no relief in cases of adultery, nor were they the 
proper objects of cognation or affinity, but of quasi 
cognation only. ' ' And the Louisiana reports quoted 
by Wheeler in his "Law of Slavery, " page 199, declare : 
"It is clear that slaves have no legal capacity to assent 
to any contract. With the consent of their masters 
they may marry, but while in a state of slavery it can 
not produce any civil effects." "No slave," says Jay, 
"can commit bigamy, because the law knows no more 
of marriage of slaves than it does of the marriage of 
brutes. A slave may indeed be formally married, but, 
as far as legal rights and obligations are concerned, it 
is an idle ceremonv. " 

Slave Breeders.— The cruelties of the lash did not in 
any measure equal in degradation the action of the gain- 
greedy and conscienceless slave breeders, who sold 
wives into separation from their husbands and com- 
pelled them to accept new partners in order that the 
fruitfulness of the plantation might not suffer. 



MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 145 

Well Known to Slave Holders. — Professor Bow- 
ers says, ''The deplorable condition of the slaves 
was well known to the slave-holders and aboli- 
tionists. The legally closed school house and church, 
and the cupidity of master, as well as his inhu- 
manity and brutality, were bringing forth fruit of the 
blackest kind and in prodigious quantities. Human 
reason hesitates to accept, without convincing proof, 
the horrible tale of woe, and when this tale is well 
authenticated it sits dumb and speechless in its pres- 
ence. These are not the fancies of verdant youth, nor 
are they the ravings and discolorations of an unbal- 
anced brain, neither are they the highly colored tales 
of the Arabian Nights ; but they are the statements of 
honorable slaveholders, the careful compilations and 
observations of the white ministry in the South during 
slavery, and the unvarnished accounts of the actual 
sufferers themselves. 

Why Stated. — Let it be borne in mind that these 
facts are not written to feed the almost quenchless fires 
of prejudices. I would walk, face forward, in the 
presence of that harrowing and nameless shame and 
cover it with the garment of Christian charity ; but my 
only apology for uncovering this pit of seething, reek- 
ing and nauseating corruption is to show from whence 
we came, and to refute the statement that slavery 
was the halcyon days of purity and moral power for the 
Negro, and to show the absurdity of the claim that the 
slave-driver's whip and bloodhounds are superior moral 
teachers for a man to sympathetic, consecrated and 
humanity-loving teachers with a spelling book in one 
hand and the Bible in the other. And again these 
words are written to show the Negro himself the black 
heritage he has brought with him from slavery, and 



146 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

to impress with him the thought that heroic treatmer.c, 
patiently and persistently administered, will ultimately 
develop in him those moral qualities that are necessary 
to a happy life. '' 

Heathenism.— On the 5th of December, 1833, a com- 
mittee of the Synod of South Carolina and Georgia, to 
whom was referred the subject of the religious instruc- 
tion of the colored population, made a report, which 
has been published, and in which this language is used : 

"Who would credit it that in these years of revival 
and benevolent effort in this Christian republic there 
are over 2,000,000 of human beings in the condition of 
heathens, and in some respects in worse condition? 
From long continued and close observation, we believe 
that their religious and inoral condition is such that 
they may justly be considered the heathen of this 
Christian country, and will bear comparison with the 
heathen of any country in the world. The Negroes 
are destitute of the Gospel, and ever will be under the 
present state of things. In the vast field extending 
from an entire state beyond the Potomac to the Sabine 
river, and from the Atlantic to the Ohio, there are, to 
the best of our knowledge, not twelve men exclusively 
devoted to the religious instruction of the Negroes. 
In the present state of the feeling in the south, a min- 
istry of their own color could neither be obtained or 
tolerated. But do not the Negroes have access to the 
Gospel through the stated ministry of the whites? We 
answer. No ; the Negroes have no regular and efficient 
ministry; as a matter of course, no churches; neither 
is there sufficient room in white churches for their 
accommodation. We know of but five churches in the 
slave-holding states built expressly for their use ; these 
are all in the State of Georgia. We may now inquire 



MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 147 

if they enjoy the privileges of the Gospel in their own 
houses and on plantations? Again we return a nega- 
tive answer. They have no Bibles to read by their 
own firesides ; they have no family altars ; and when 
in affliction, sickness or death, they have no minister 
to address to them the consolations of the Gospel, nor 
to bury them with solemn and appropriate services. 

Humane Masters. — In every state there were masters 
who were kind-hearted and genuinely sympathetic, 
who treated their slaves with consideration, and some of 
them taught their slaves to read ;. had them to marry 
according to the requirements of the church ; did not 
allow them to violate with impunity, nor did these 
masters themselves violate, the marriage vows of the 
slaves ; took them to their churches and had them to 
share the benefits of the pulpit ministrations, and 
thus acted towards them in the capacity of fathers and 
mothers towards their children. There was genuine 
affection between them, and these slaves were the fav- 
ored ones in the South, and the ex-slaves of to-day who 
had such masters, never cease to sing their praise. 

Few in Number. — But it must be borne in mind that 
such slave-masters were exceedingly few and far 
between, and what is still more remarkable, such 
moral, intellectual and spiritual care of the slave by 
these few noble spirits was contrary to the letter and 
spirit of the law in every slave state. 

The law of certain states forbade the use of the 
Bible or any other book, and also religious meetings of 
the Negroes, unless a majority of whites were present. 
All prohibited the impartation of instruction, while Vir- 
ginia unequivocally forbade all evening meetings. "In 
the House of Delegates of Viginia, in 1832, Mr. Berry 
said: 'We have, as far as possible, closed every avenue 



148 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

by which light might enter their (the slaves*) minds. 
If we could extinguish the capacity to see the light our 
work would be completed; they would then be on a 
level with the beasts of the field, and we should be safe ! 
I am not certain that we would not do it if we could 
find out the process, and that on the plea of necessity. ' " 

Defending Slavery. — Dr. Blyden, in his "Christian- 
ity, Islam and the Negro," says: "The highest men 
in the South, magistrates, legislators, professors of 
religion, preachers of the gospel, governors of states, 
gentlemen of property and tmderstanding, all united 
in upholding a system which every Negro felt was 
wrong. Yet these were the men from whom he got 
his religion, and whom he was obliged to regard as 
guides. Saints, no doubt, there were among the bond- ' 
men, but they became so not in consequence, but in 
default, and often, we may say, in defiance, of instruc- 
tions. " The sacredness of the marriage relation, the 
punishments for fornication and adultery, ethical integ- 
rity, the glories and rewards for faithful service, and 
the duties, privileges, and opportunities of the Christian 
life, were never discussed before and unfolded to the 
slave. Where he was permitted to hold meetings he 
was trained in the most grotesque types of worship ; 
his emotions and wildest eccentricities were cultivated, 
and his motives for life were drawn from no higher 
source in the main than this temporary, enthusiastic 
and emotional worship. 

Financial Consideration. — He was trained in certain 
handicraft for financial consideration. The lash was 
his taskmaster, and from him he received no view of' 
the dignity of labor. A man may learn mechanics by 
force, but not ethics. The last may make (?) a good 
blacksmith, but not a good conscience. There was no 



MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 149 

thought among the slaveholders of improving the slave 
in any element for the slave's sake. 

A Struggling Race.— President Wright sa5^s: ''Ex- 
tremely interesting must such a task be when it is 
understood that the history of the American Negro is 
the history of a race struggling amid environments 
and against difficulties such as no similar nation in all 
history has had to meet. It is pretty generally agreed 
that the Negro in America introduces a problem with- 
out a parallel. His history is unique. Properly given 
in all its phases, the narrative would teem with inci- 
dents and achievements almost romantic. 

"The surrender of General Lee was the occasion of 
the total collapse of the social and industrial features 
of the old Georgia progress. Society among the white 
people for the time was thrown into almost chaotic con- 
dition, but it was for the moment only. They under- 
stood how to cover a rout, to gather the demolished 
fragments and reform. 

"But how was it with the Negro? Had he ever any 
conception of society, of voluntary order? Had one- 
tenth of one per cent of them ever looked into a book 
or saved a dollar? 

Ignorance Equaled by Poverty.— Their ignorance 
was equaled only by their poverty. Improvident and 
totally helpless, the freedman was well nigh friendless. 
Considered by many as property illegally taken from 
those among whom his lot was to be cast hereafter as a 
citizen, he was looked upon as an intruder in the body 
politic. Hindered, rather than helped, by those whom 
he knew best ; confused by his new surroundings, and 
with his intellectual and moral abilities subjects of 
misunderstanding and doubt on the part of his friends, 
the Negro of Georgia was sent forth in 1865 to develop 



150 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

character, to get education and money, and to prove 
himself worthy the freedom which was thrust upon 
him. In short, he was to maintain himself as a freed- 
man and citizen in the midst of his old masters, who 
had enjoyed centuries of civilization. That it was a 
great task all will acknowledge ; that under its environ- 
ments it was a feat fraught with much doubt, few will 
deny. But while this condition was pitiable, it was 
not hopeless. Under slavery, he, though a simple 
child of the shovel and hoe, had developed a faith in 
God which was abiding, and had obtained a working 
knowledge of the English tongue. These were his sole 
stock in trade, but they were very valuable. To under- 
stand, then, the difficulties which the Negro has over- 
come and to estimate the progress which he has made 
in the past thirty years, his condition at emancipation 
must be borne steadily and faithfully in mind. 

Difficult to Comprehend. — It is difficult to compre- 
hend the utter poverty and disheartening ignorance 
which enveloped the colored people at the beginning 
of the period under discussion. They began without 
any adequate amount of food, clothing or shelter; a 
vast majority without the least conception of a school 
or a home. Their exertions to obtain food, clothing, 
and shelter, certainly greatly retarded their efforts 
for book learning. They did not know how to make 
contracts or agreements for wages. Consequently they 
worked the first year for a bare subsistence ; with a few 
exceptions their first possessions outside of food and 
clothing were bought during the second year, and con- 
sisted of oxen and mules and farming implements. 
They began to rent lands in the third year, and in the 
fourth to buy land. This was the rule; there were 
exceptions. To fully understand the educational devel- 



MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 151 

opment of the first decade would require a thorough 
knowledge of the colored man's progress and achieve- 
ments as a free laborer; for the labor question and 
educational problem are, as Siamese twins, insepar- 
able." 

Moral Improvement. — "Talks for the Times" says: 
**To estimate fairly their improvement in this direc- 
tion it would be necessary to realize, if possible, the 
depth of degradation to which two hundred and fifty 
years of thralldom had sunk them, and to take into 
consideration at the same time the fact that the moral 
nature of man everywhere and among all people is by 
far the most difficult to train. This being so, what 
must be the task to repair it, after it has been bruised 
and maimed and twisted and gnarled and distorted? 
A crooked limb, by proper appliances, may be straight- 
ened. A bone of the body may be broken and set, and 
become even stronger in the fractured parts ; but man 
cannot sin and be strong. The violation of the moral 
law means, in every instance, the sapping of moral 
foundations, the weakening of the moral nature. When, 
therefore, I consider by what processes, during two 
centuries, the moral groundwork of my people was 
undermined and shaken, it is no wonder that to-day 
many of them are found immoral. The greater won- 
der is that their moral perception has not been entirely 
swept away. Many people, however, and those, 
especially, who stigmatize us as a race peculiarly 
immoral, do not reason in this way. They do not seem 
to realize that slavery was a school ill adapted to the 
producing of pure and upright characters. Can you 
rob a man continually of his honest earnings and not 
teach him to steal? Can you ignore the sanctity of 
marriage and the family relations and not inculcate 



152 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

lewdness? Can you constantly govern a man with the 
lash and expect him always to speak the truth? If you 
can do these things, then, verily, are my people dishon- 
est, impure and untruthful. But our enemies demand 
of us perfection. They are unreasonable. They require 
among us in twenty short years a state of moral recti- 
tude which they themselves, with far more favorable 
opportunities, have not realized in one hundred times 
twenty. They are unphilosophical, for they do not 
perceive that diseases are more quickly contracted than 
cured. 

Negro Immoralities. — "Very amusing, too, it is to 
listen to the hue and cry sent up every little while 
against Negro immoralities; such a cry and howl as 
went up but recently from the swamps of the Missis- 
sippi, and are still reverberating through the country 
with a jarring sound. Very amusing, I say, it is to 
listen to these cries against Negro immoralities, when 
the same immoralities are continually cropping out 
among the white people, professedly our superiors. 
How many times within the last two decades, has this 
nation had to hang its head in shame because of the 
dishonesty of its public men! What about Credit 
Mobilier and the Tamany frauds? What about whis- 
ky rings? What about cipher dispatches? What about 
Star Route trials? What about the stuffing of ballot 
boxes? What about the defalcation and impeachment 
of high state officials? And so on, and so on, ad 
iyifinitum. 

In Proportion to Opportunities. — "We have not had 
a fair chance in this country; but, in proportion to our 
opportunities we can show as many good, virtuous, 
law-abiding citizens as any other race on this continent. 
Wherever, in the South, Christian education has 



MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 153 

reached the freedmen it has awakened in them a taste 
for the true and beautiful. This may be seen in the 
changed manner of living of many of them. The dirty 
shanty and clumsy log cabins in which, formerly, so 
many were accustomed to be huddled together, are 
retreating, step by step, before the steady advance of 
neat and cozy cottages. Christian homes, the strength 
of any nation, are being built up, decorated with the 
beauties and improvement of modern art. 

Negro Domination, — "Old civilizations die hard, and 
old prejudices die harder. They have nine lives, like 
a cat. For this reason, therefore, you may expect for 
many a year yet to find those who are still living in 
the dead past, and who feel it their duty to champion 
the old order of things, and to throw stumbling blocks 
in the path of progress. I entertain no ill will toward 
this class of persons. I have for them no word of cen- 
sure or reproach. I give them the credit of even being 
sincere ; but I assure them from every page of history 
and human experience they are mistaken. They are 
at war with the spirit of the age and the sermon on 
the mount. Nor are they even consistent. They 
advocate the theory of repression. They say the 
Negro must be kept down for fear of Negro domination. 
On the other hand, they hold that he is an inferior race, 
fundamentally inferior, created so by almighty God. 
Why, in the name of righteous heaven should it be 
necessary to keep down a race that is naturally inferior? 
Why should there be any fear of its ever becoming 
dominant? There is something crooked in this philos- 
ophy. To say the least, there is something in it 
exceedingly incongruous. Nevertheless it is this kind 
of philosophy that is sending armed ruffians into first- 
class cars to drag them from their seats, for which they 



154 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

have honestly paid their money, the best men and 
women of our race. It is this kind of philosophy that 
is shutting everywhere in our faces the doors of public 
accommodation. It is this false philosophy, I say, by 
which it is made to appear that every advancement of 
the Negro is a menace to the interests of the white 
man ; and it is this philosophy that will ever keep alive 
in the South race antagonism. 

Inconsistent, Incorrect and Narrow Views. — "The 
men who advocate this philosophy are not only incon- 
sistent, but incorrect, and exceedingly narrow in their 
views as to the nature of this government. They claim 
that it is not only a .'white man's' government, but 
an Anglo-Saxon government, thereby robbing of 
their merit and glory the noble-minded foreigners who 
helped fight for American independence, and the 
hundreds of thousands more who were not Anglo- 
Saxons, but who, during four years of a terrible civil 
war fought as bravely and as heroically as any Anglo- 
Saxon to save this nation from dissolution and ruin. 
Did not Lafayette, that gallant Frenchman, fight for 
American independence? Let the battle of Brandy wine 
tell. Did not Count Pulaski, the noble Pole, fight for 
American independence? Let the same battle of 
Brandywine tell. Did he not afterward even fall in an 
attempt to capture Savannah? Did not Kosciusko, 
another Pole, and even far more distinguished than the 
other, cast in his fortune with the cause of American 
independence? And what shall we say of the hundreds 
of thousands who were not Anglo-Saxons, but who 
poured out their life blood at Gettysburg and the Wil- 
derness and Chickamauga, and around the defenses of 
Richmond and Vicksburg? Indeed, it is my belief, 
that if all the blood that is not Anglo-Saxon could be 



MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 155 

drawn off from the great stream supplying our national 
life, that which remained would be conspicuous for the 
insignificance of its quantity. ' ' 

Look Not for Greatness. — Senator Logan once said : 
If there is any one thing that will clog the wheels of 
your material progress it is the fact that some of you 
are trying to overreach yourselves. Do not become 
dazzled at the splendor and magnificence of those who 
had hundreds of years to make this country what it is 
today. No man is a success who has not a fixed object 
as a sign-post — an aim in life to attain unto. A man 
should get that kind and that amount of education that 
will best fit him for the performance and the attain- 
ment of his object in life. Too much Greek will do 
you no good; w4iat does a man want with Greek 
around a table with a white apron on? I do not say that 
you should not study Greek if you intend to fill a chair 
in some institution of learning ; I do not say that you 
should not read medicine if you desire to become a 
physician, or law if you wish to follow that profession. 
But I tell you our white people are fast growing indo- 
lent and lazy. If you watch your chance and take 
timely advantage of the opportunities offered you, 
your race will be the wage workers, the skilled arti- 
sans, and eventually the land owners and the wealthy 
class of this country. I advise you to learn trades , 
learn to become mechanics. You have the ability and 
the capacity to reach the highest point, and even go 
further, in the march of progress than has yet been 
made by any people. 

Labor to Become Great. — It takes labor to become a 
great man, just as it takes centuries to become a great 
nation. Great men are not fashioned in heaven and 
thrown from the hand of the Almighty to become 

11 Progress. 



156 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



potentates here on earth, nor are they born rich. 
I admit that there is, in some parts of this country, a 
prejudice against you on account of your color and 
former condition. In my opinion the best way to 
overcome this is to show your capability by doing 
everything that a white man does, and do it just as 
well or better than he does. If a white man scorns 




BROOKS SANDERS. 

Son of Pres. Sanders, of Biddle 
University, Charlotte, N. C. 



DAUGHTER OF 
BISHOP C. R. HARRIS, 

Salisbury, N. C. 



you, show him that you are too high bred, too noble 
hearted, to take notice of it; and, the first opportunity 
you have, do him a favor, and I warrant that he will 
feel ashamed of himself and never again will he make 
an exhibition of his prejudice. The future is yours, 
and you have it in which to rise to the heights or 
descend to the depths. 



MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 157 

In America — I believe that the future of the Negro 
race is to be found in the segment of that race provi- 
dentially lodged on this soil. Say what we may about 
this or that, these United States have given us the 
most advanced, the most progressive Negro to be found 
on the face of the globe. And this is true for the 
reason that she is giving him the largest all-round 
opportunities, the highest civil ideals, and the steadiest 
aims. The troubles we suffer here in our day are only 
a part of the old, old conflict that has raged so long. 

"Must we be carried to the skies 
On flowery beds of ease, 
While others fought to win the prize 
And sailed through bloody seas?" 

No, we cannot be, and will not be, though we may 
wish to ever so much. "Through conflict to the skies," 
is as true for dark humanity as for any other variety 
of men. Had we then not better learn this lesson and 
cease our shameful grumbling, as if the Almighty had 
done us some special wrong? God has given us minds 
to think, hands to work and hearts to love. Let us 
subject these God-given powers to the regimen of a 
severe discipline, and, walking with hope to the future, 
work out a noble destiny for ourselves and our children. 

Change During Years of Bondage. — Said Rev. A. D. 
Mayo, at the Mohonk conference in 1890: "It has 
never been realized by the loyal North what is evident 
to every intelligent Southern man, what a prodigious 
change has been wrought in this people during its years 
of bondage, and how, without the schooling of this era, 
the subsequent elevation of the emancipated slave to a 
full American citizenship would have been an impossi- 
bility. In that condition he learned the three great 
elements of civilization more speedily than they were 



158 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

ever learned before. He learned to work, he acquired 
the language, and adopted the religion of the most 
progressive of peoples. Gifted with a marvelous apti- 
tude for such schooling, he was found in 1865 farther 
out of the woods of barbarism than any other people at 
the end of a thousand years. " 

In Twenty Years. — The scholastic education of the 
Negro began in earnest only about twenty years ago, 
1876 being the date of the complete inauguration of 
the public school system of the South. This is too 
short for us to expect greaL results. The educated 
generation are not yet fairly cut of school, but there 
have already appeared some isolated cases which show 
signs of promise. In the class of 1888 at Harvard 
University were two Negroes, ono of whom was selected 
by the faculty to represent his class on commencement 
day, as being the foremost scholar among his two hun- 
dred and fifty classmates; the other was elected by the 
class for the highest honor in their gift, by being made 
their orator on class day. The circumstance reflects 
honor, not merely on him, but on the democratic spirit 
of our oldest university, which recognized merit with- 
out regard to color. Boston University has also yielded 
first honors to a Negro. A Negro professor of 
theology at vStraight University, at New Orleans, is a 
graduate of Vermont University, who afterwards took 
the prize for traveling scholarship from Yale Theo- 
logical Seminary, and spent a year in Germany upon 
it. Professor Bowen, of the Gammon Theological 
Seminary, delivered at the Atlanta Exposition opening 
an address which in classic finish will bear comparison 
with the best orations of Edward Everett. The prin- 
cipal of one of our auxiliaries, Mr. E. N. Smith, a 
perfect gentleman and an excellent teacher, is a full 



MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 159 

blooded Negro, a graduate of Lincoln University and 
Newton Theological Institution, and pronounced by 
Dr. Hovey one of the best scholars that have been 
educated there. 

False Hopes. — The most obvious hindrance in the 
way of the education of the Negro has so often been 
presented and discussed — his origin, history and envir- 
onment — that it seems superfluous to treat it anew. 
His political status, sudden and unparalleled, compli- 
cated by antecedent condition, excites false hopes and 
encourages the notion of reaching per saltiim, without 
the use of the agencies of time, labor, industry, discip- 
line, what the dominant race had attained after cen- 
turies of toil and trial and sacrifice. Education, prop- 
erty, habits of thrift and self-control, higher achieve- 
ments of civilization, are not extemporized nor created 
by magic or legislation. Behind the Caucasian lie 
centuries of the educating, uplifting influences of 
civilization, of the institution of family, society, 
the churches, the state, and the salutary effects 
of heredity. Behind the Negro are centuries of igno- 
rance, barbarism, slavery, superstition, idolatry, fetish- 
ism, and the transmissible consequences of heredity. 

Charitable Judgment. — Nothing valuable or perma- 
nent in human life has been secured without the sub- 
stratum of moral character, of religious motive, in the 
individual, the family, the community. In this matter 
the Negro should be judged charitably , for his aboriginal 
people were not far removed from the savage state, 
where they knew neither house nor home, and had not 
enjoyed any religious training. Their condition as 
slaves debarred them the advantage of regular, con- 
tinuous, systematic instruction. The Negro began his 
life of freedom and citizenship with natural weaknesses 



160 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

uncorrected, with loose notions of piety and morality, 
and with strong racial peculiarities and proclivities, 
and has not outgrown the feebleness of the moral sense 
which is common to all primitive races. 

Thrift. — Professor Greenwood says: "Twenty-five 
years ago the colored people of Missouri were unedu- 
cated, poverty-stricken, dependent, and helpless creat- 
ures. To-day they number 200,000. The value of their 
real and personal property is more than $30,000,000. 

"Thousands of them live in comfortable homes. 

"Of the 50,000 children of school age, seventy per 
cent, are now in attendance. They are as neatly and 
cleanly clad as the average white child, and many of 
them much better. Those who were the boys and girls 
in school a few years ago are the leaders among their 
people now. The self-denial practiced by parents to 
educate their children is one of the strongest evidences 
of parental affection that the world has ever beheld. 
When the schoolhouse doors were opened for the 
admission of colored pupils, they rushed in to get an 
education, and the influx is unabated. I have seen old 
white-haired men and women studying the first reader 
and spelling book so as to be able to read the Bible, the 
newspapers, and to write letters to relatives and 
friends. Have you seen white people doing these 
things?" 

A Loyal American. — But let us look at these people 
from another standpoint, and see what progress they 
have made. In Missouri there are 45,000 of them 
church communicants; more than 450 ministers of the 
gospel; 400 church edifices and 60 parsonages. Do 
these evidences of prosperity indicate the wretchedness 
of this race? The Negro must be treated as a man, 
neither cajoled nor despised. He is here to stay, and 



MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 161 

it is our duty to help him make the most of himself as 
an industrious, intelligent, law-abiding and faithful 
citizen. Whether educated or uneducated, he is not a 
dangerous element in our civilization. A thousand- 
fold is he to be trusted when compared with those dan- 
gerous elements which have swept in upon us from 
European countries, and are now a standing menace to 
our social and political institutions. The Negro is 
thoroughly and loyally American. 

Thrift and Self-Respect. — The thrift and self-respect 
of the Negro has removed him from the dark and 
cheerless abode in which he lived, and has placed him 
in neat and well-kept homes. 

Negro Homes, The Contrast. — The Negro whose 
soul is free, like every other man, appreciates the sa- 
credness and beauty which must be inseparable from a 
happy home. On the other hand, the Negro, debased 
and brutified by a servitude of centuries, has no desire 
for home in any exalted sense. 

Legacy Bequeathed by Slavery. — Perhaps the least 
respected legacy left by slavery to the children of its 
victims is the disintegrating and nomadic tendency to 
a homeless and non-familied people. There are among 
the Negroes those whom no wretchedness can impel, 
no opportunity inspire to alter or make tolerable the 
places in which their families exist, and many an old 
Negro lives for years in a one or two room cabin, declin- 
ing to build another room ''Kase he won't be g'wine 
to leave. ' ' 

Happy and Comfortable Homes. — The influences 
that are at work in transforming the women of the 
race, making a generation of virtuous, clean, industrious 
women, though they may not shine in society and speak 
but one language, though they may be ugly in features 



162 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



and unsophisticated m manner, though their names 
are never heard outside of the limits of their own 
state, these influences, I say, will improve the homes 




REV. W. W. LUCAS, A. M., B. D. 

Secretary of the Stewart Missionary Foundation for 
Africa, graduate of Clark University and Gammon's 
School of Theology of Atlanta, Ga., and Boston Uni- 
versity, of Boston, Massachusetts. 

of the race more speedily than any other aspiration, 
after the empty honors and applause of the multitude. 
Do Something. — Booker Washington says: "We 
expect too often to get things that God did not mean 
for us to have in certain ways. At one time an old 



MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 163 

colored man was very anxious to get a turkey, and 
prayed and prayed for the Lord to send him a turkey. 
The turkey did not come, and finally the old man 
changed his prayer somewhat and said, *0 Lord, send 
dis nigger to a turkey,' and he got it that night. God 
means for us to get many things in about that same 
way, that is, by working for them rather than by 
depending on the power of mouth. ' * 

There are inultitudes who are willing to accept 
honors and advantages who are not ready to work for 
them. It is necessary for all who would succeed to put 
forth strenuous efforts in that direction. The days of 
chance are gone, it is only the man who does not wait 
for things to turn up, but turns up something, that suc- 
ceeds. Young man, do something; attempt something 
that will be a benefit to your race. Something en- 
nobling, something enduring; something to elevate 
manhood and win men to noble, virtuous, upright lives, 
and your life will not have been lived in vain. 

These thoughts must be impressed upon the humblest 
of the race. Success comes not by waiting for it. 
If the Afro-American race is to continue to rise, and 
is to hold a prominent place in this nation, there must 
be an effort. Empty wishes carry us nowhere. With- 
out an earnest effort on the part of those of the race 
who hold the key to circumstances the race may as 
well yield to the prejudice still existing, and hold for- 
ever an inferior position, but with a determination that 
surmounts the obstacles and with a corresponding 
effort to stand first in the industries of our nation, we 
may well expect that the past achievement in this line 
is nothing compared to the progress of the future. 

Cast Down Your Bucket. — "At one time a ship was 
lost at sea for many days, when it hove in sight of a 



164 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

friendly vessel. The signal of the distressed vessel was 
at once hoisted, which read: 'We want water; we die 
of thirst.' The answering signal read, 'Cast down 
your bucket where you are, ' but a second time the dis- 
tressed vessel signaled, 'AVe want water, water,' and a 
second time the other vessel answered 'cast dowp your 
bucket where you are. ' A third and fourth time the 
distressed vessel signaled, 'We want water, water; we 
die of thirst;' and as many times was answered, 'Cast 
down your bucket where you are. ' At last the com- 
mand was obeyed, the bucket was cast down where the 
vessel stood, and it came up full of fresh and sparkling 
water from the Amazon river. My friends, we are 
failing to cast down our buckets for the help that is 
right above us, and spend too much time in signaling 
for help that is far off. Let us cast down our buckets 
here in our own sunny South, cast them down in agri- 
culture, in truck gardening, dairying, poultry raising, 
hog raising, laundering, cooking, sewing, mechanical 
and professional life, and the help that we think is far 
off will come and we will soon grow independent and 
useful." 

In Our Stead. — In a speech before a National Council 
of Colored Men, Bishop Turner made the following 
excellent points: "I am willing to accord to the white 
man every meed of honor that ability, grit, backbone, 
sagacity, tact and invincibility can entitle him to. For 
this Anglo-Saxon, I grant, is a powerful race; but 
put him in our stead, enslave him for two hundred and 
fifty years, emancipate him and turn him loose upon 
the world, without education, without money, without 
horse or mule or a foot of land, when passion engen- 
dered by war was most intense, to eke out a subsistence 
from nothing beyond the charity of an indignant people 



MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 165 

on the one hand, and a cold shouldering- and proscriptive 
people on the other, and I do not believe he v/ould 
have equaled us in respect, obedienpe, fidelity, and 
accomplished the results and maintained the pacific 
equilibrium we have. For our nation freed the black 
man as a war measure, I grant, but that freedom 
entailed and left upon us a mendicancy that the unborn 
will ask the reason why. Even the usufruct claim, 
guaranteed to the serfs of Russia — a nation at that 
time regarded as semi-civilized — was denied the freed- 
men by this so-called enlightened and Christian 
nation. 

The Mule and Forty Acres. — The mule and forty 
acres of land, which has been so often ridiculed for 
being expected by the black man, was a just and right- 
eous expectation, and had this nation been one-fiftieth 
part as loyal to the black man as he has been to it, 
such a bestowment would have been made, and the 
cost would have been a mere bagatelle, compared with 
the infinite resources of this republic, which has given 
countless millions to foreigners to come into the country 
and destroy respect for the Sabbath, flood the land 
with every vice known to the ends of the earth, and 
form themselves into anarchal bands for the overthrow 
of its institutions and venerated customs. 

Freedom. — Nevertheless, freedom has been so long 
held before us, as man's normal birth-right, and the 
bas-relief of every possibility belonging to the achieve- 
ments of manhood, that we received it as Heaven's 
greatest boon, and nursed ourselves into satisfaction, 
believing that we had the stamina, not only to wring 
existence out of our poverty, but also wealth, learning, 
honor, fame and immortality. 

Rape. — But, through some Satanic legerdemain, 



166 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

within the last years, the most fearful crimes have 
been charged upon the members of our race known to 
the catalogue of villainy, and death and destruction 
have stalked abroad with an insatiable carnivoracity 
that not only beggars description, but jeopardizes the 
life of every Negro in the land, as anyoae could raise 
an alarm by crying rape, and some colored man must 
die, whether he is the right one or not, or whether it 
was the product of revenge, or the mere cracking of a 
joke. 

An Awful Charge. — The civilized world has been 
informed through Christian Advocates and through the 
public daily papers that Negroes have raped white 
w^omen in such numbers that the charge is undoubtedly 
the most revolting and blood-curdling ever presented 
against the people since time began. Without affirm- 
ing or denying this monstrous imputation, we owe it 
to ourselves and posterity to inquire into this subject 
and give it the most patient, thorough and impartial 
investigation that ever befell the lot of man. 

No Attribute to Side with Us. — If the charges are 
true, then God has no attribute that will side with us. Na- 
ture has no member, no potential factor, that will defend 
us ; and while we may not all be guilty, nor one in ten 
thousand, it nevertheless shows, if true, that there is a 
libidinous taint, a wanton and lecherous corruption, 
that is prophetic of a dreadful doom, as there must be 
a cardinal blood poison in the precincts of our race that 
staggers the most acute imagination in determining its 
woeful results. 

Counter Charge.— Nor can we excuse it, palliate it, 
or manifest indifference upon the postulation that it is 
a righteous retribution upon the white man for the way 
he treated our women for hundreds of years. For if 



MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 167 

the counter-charge is true, we certainly did not visit 
swift vengeance upon the white man, as he is doing 
upon us by his lawless mobs. 

One Recourse Left. — There is but one recourse left 
us that will command the respect of the civilized world 
and the approval of God, and that is to investigate the 
facts in the premises, and if guilty, acknowledge it, and 
let us organize against the wretches in our own ranks. 
Let us call upon the colored ministry to sound it from 
the pulpit, our newspapers to brand it with infamy 
daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. Let us put a thou- 
sand lecturers in the field, to canvass every section of 
the land, and denounce the heinous crime. 

Heathen Africa. — Among the heathen Africans,- 
whatever else may be said about them, the world will 
have to admit that they are the purest people, outside of 
polygamy, in their connubial and virgin morals, upon 
the face of the globe. White v/omen, to my personal 
knowledge, hundreds of luiles interiorward in Africa, 
can remain in their midst and teach school for years 
without being insulted, which proves to a demonstra- 
tion that where our natures have not "been distorted 
and abnormalized we are the most honorable cus- 
todians of female virtue now under Heaven. I have 
been told by white ladies in Africa, from Louisiana, 
South Carolina, New York, Nebraska, England, and 
Ireland, that no white lady could be improperly 
approached in Africa in a lifetime unless she made 
herself unusually forward. 

Not the Nature of the Black Man. — It is not the 
nature of the black man to outrage white women, unless 
it is one of our American retrogressive abnormalities, 
which has possibly grown out of the degradation en- 
tailed upon us by the singular prejudice and degrading 



1G8 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

conditions under which we exist. The whole range of 
West India islands show by their records that only one 
rape has been charged upon a black man since 1832, and 
that occurred twenty years ago, while eleven rapes 
were charged upon white men, nine of which were per- 
petrated upon black women and two upon white 
women. 

Like Begets Like. — It may, however, be due to the 
fact that there the laws and institutions recognize the 
black man as a full-fledged citizen and a gentleman, 
and his pride of character and sense of dignity are not 
degraded, and self-respect imparts a higher prompting 
and gentlemanly bearing to his manhood, and makes 
him a better citizen and inspires him with more gal- 
lantry and nobler principles. For like begets like. 

A Degraded Condition. — While, in this country, we 
are degraded by the public press, degraded by the 
courts of the country from the United States Supreme 
Court down, degraded on the railroads after purchasing 
first-class tickets, degraded at the hotels and barber 
shops, degraded in many states at the ballot-box, 
degraded in some of the large cities by being com- 
pelled to rent houses in alleys and the most disreputa- 
ble streets. Thus we are degraded in so many 
respects that all the starch of respectability is taken 
out of the manhood of millions of our people, and as 
degradation begets degradation, it is very possible that 
in many instances we are guilty of doing a series of 
infamous things that we would not be guilty of if our 
environments were different. 

The World's Fair.— Think of it ! The great World's 
Fair, or exposition, in Chicago, out of more than ten 
thousand employes, gave no recognition to the colored 
race beyond taking charge of the toilet rooms. 



MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 169 

Half Free and Half Slave.— I would not have you 
understand that I am denying, condoning or excusing 
the crime of rape, as is being charged to a greater or 
less extent upon the members of our race ; nor must 
we jump at a hasty or rash conclusion ; but I fear much 
of it, if true, is due to our natural and immethodical 
environment and ignoble status, nor do I, for one, 
believe that we will ever stand out in the symmetrical 
majesty of higher manhood, half free and half slave. 

The Great Desideratum. — The one great desider- 
atum of the American Negro is manhood impetus. 
We may educate and acquire general intelligence, but 
cur sons and daughters will come out of the college 
with all their years of training and thrift to the plane 
of the scullion, as long as they are restricted, limited 
and circumbounded by colorphobia. For abstract edu- 
cation elevates no man, nor will it elevate a race. 
What we call the heathen African will strut around in 
his native land, three-fourths naked, and you can see 
by the way he stands, talks, and acts that he possesses 
more manhood than fifty of some of our people in this 
country, and any ten of our most distinguished colored 
men here. 

A Dwarfed People. — Until we are free from menace 
by lynchers, hotels, railroads, stores, factories, restaur- 
ants, barber shops, machine shops, court houses and 
other places where merit and worth are respected, we 
are destined to be a dwarfed people. Our sons and 
daughters will grow up with it in their very flesh and 
bones. 

Gratitude. — As one, I feel grateful for many things 
that have been done for us within the last thirty years. 
I am thankful for Mr. Lincoln's manumitting proc- 
lamation, for its ratification by Congress, for the thir- 



170 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

teenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the 
Constitution, which were placed there by the American 
people for the benefit of our race, even if the United 
States Supreme Court has destroyed the fourteenth 
amendment by its revolting decision. 

Millions for Education.— I am thankful to our gen- 
erous-hearted friends of the North who have given 
voluntarily millions upon millions to aid in our educa- 
tion. 1 am thankful to the South for the school law^s 
they have enacted, and for the generous manner in 
which they have taxed themselves in building and sus- 
taining schools for our enlightenment and intellectual 
and moral elevation. 

Full- Fledged Men. — But, if this country is to be our 
home, the Negro must be a self-controlling, automatic 
factor of the body politic or collective life of the 
nation. In other words, we must be full-fledged men. 
Otherwise we will not be worth existence itself. 

God Hates Cowardice. — To passively remain here 
and occupy our present ignoble status, with the, possi- 
bility of being shot, hung and burnt, not only when 
we perpetrate deeds of violence ourselves, but when- 
ever some bad white man wishes to black his face and 
outrage a female, as I am told is often done, is a matter 
of serious reflection. To do so would be to declare our- 
selV'CS unfit to be free men or to assume the responsi- 
bilities which involve fatherhood and existence. For 
God hates the submission of cowardice. 

Physical Resistance. — But, on the other hand, to talk 
about physical resistance is literal madness. Nobody 
but an idiot would give it a moment's thought. The 
idea ni ciglit or ten millions of ex-slaves contending 
with sixty millions people of the most powerful race 
under Heaven ! Think of two hundred and sixty-five 



MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 171 

millions of dollars battling with one hundred billions 
of dollars. Why, we would not be a 'drop in the 
bucket. It is folly to indulge in such a thought for a 
moment. 

Debt of Our Nation. — This nation justly, righteously, 
divinely, owes us for work and service rendered billions 
of dollars, and if we cannot be treated as American 
people, we should ask for five hundred million dollars 
at least, to begin an immigration somewhere, if we can 
not for service rendered receive manhood recognition 
here at home. Freedom and perpetual degradation 
are not in the economy of human events. " 

Bishop Gaines on Lynching. — "The better class of 
colored people all over the South are unanimous in the 
condemnation of the wretches who are guilty of this 
unmentionable crime. They recognize the fact that 
the whole race is suffering in the eyes of the world 
through the conduct of the vile scoundrels who perpe- 
trate these crimes. In many places the white people 
regard a Negro with detestation and suspicion, believ- 
ing him to be capable of any criminal act where he is 
left unrestrained. From experience and observation I 
know this to be true. 

Not in Sympathy with Crime. — I for one am not 
willing to be thought in sympathy with crime or crim- 
inals, and especially those cf the character I am now 
considering. If the cglored people, as a race, expect 
to gain the confidence and respect of their white neigh- 
bors and to elevate themselves in the scale of civilized 
life, they must emphasize in no uncertain way their 
detestation of that most brutal of the race, w^ho com- 
mit the horrible offense of rape, arson and the like. 
There must be no maudlin sympath}^ for such charac- 
ters who disgrace their own race and bring the Negro 
into shame and contempt. 

12 Progrees. 



172 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Innocent Men Victims.— While I say these things I 
would not be understood as favoring- lynch laws. 
Could the real criminal suffer it would not be so bad, 
but when innocent men are frequently the victims of 
excited and infuriated mobs, who take the law into 
their own hands, the necessity of legal conviction is 
apparent. Lynch law, too, no matter how justly 
administered, is bad in its tendency, working a disre- 
gard for all laws and educating the people in the law- 
lessness it is intended to prevent. 

Justice. — All our people ask is that justice be done — 
that before the law the same evidence be required to 
convict a Negro that is required to convict a white 
man, and that the same punishment be meted out to 
the one as to the other. Wherever the proof is con- 
clusive let the guilty suffer, though the heavens fall. 
Lynching is not a race question but a national ques- 
tion, as is proven by the fact that of one hundred and 
forty-one persons lynched in 1896, fifty-four were white 
men. ' ' 

Temperance, Soberness Increasing.— "Remember- 
ing the circumstances, " says Rev, J. C. Price, "in which 
the Negro was placed by the dreadful institution of 
slavery, it is not to be wondered at that he now culti- 
vates a taste, even a love, for alcohol. Yet it is re- 
markable to note the progress towards sobriety that the 
race has made in the latter years of its emancipation. 
A colored total abstainer is not a rare person in any com- 
munity nowadays. The various temperance societies, 
and nearly all the other secret organizations supported 
by the Afro-American race, uniformly require those 
who seek admission to pledge themselves to be sober 
men and women, and in most cases to be total abstain- 
ers. The drift is more and more in this direction, and 



MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT 173 

hence soberness in the race is constantly on the 
increase. 

Total Abstinence. — It is remarkable, too, to observe 
the steadfastness and persistency with which the col- 
ored teachers, as a rule, hold to the idea that the race 
is to be uplifted morally, as well as materially and 
religiously improved, through total abstinence as a 
chief instrument. It is the rare exception, not the 
rule, to find a colored teacher who does not hold to this 
doctrine. The result is that many boys and girls in 
the school-room all over the South and other sections 
as well are being trained to habits of temperance, and 
will in all probability develop into consistent temper- 
ance men and women. And it must not be forgotten 
that the true and most influential leaders of the race, 
the ministers, are molding and shaping the opinions 
of both old and young in favor of soberness and total 
abstinence. 

Leaders Temperate. — I have watched closely the 
men who are recognized as the race leaders in various 
states and localities. It is acknowledged that they are 
generally shrewd, calculating, and hard to circumvent 
when they attempt political maneuvers. It is my obser- 
vation that these leaders are strictly reliable and 
trustworthy when confided in, and — however surpris- 
ing the statement may be to some — that they are gen- 
erally sober, upright and honest. I confess that in 
some localities this rule does not apply, but on the 
whole a more sober class of leaders does not exist in 
any race than in the Afro- American. 

Cross -Roads Grocery. — One of the evils against 
which our people have to contend is the cross-roads 
grocery store, to be found all over the Southland — the 
bane of this section. Here, with no city or town 



174 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

ordinance to make drunkenness an offense, and to 
threaten certain punishment, they congregate and 
drink their fill, carouse, engage in free fights, and do 
other hurtful and equally unlawful things, while no 
one dares molest or make afraid, and the grocery 
keeper, finding his trade benefited, encourages the 
debauchery. This evil, instead of becoming less, 
increases. The business of many prosperous towns 
and villages is being injured seriously by the competi- 
tion at the cross-roads, and the resulting vice, violence 
and impoverishment. 

Crime Traceable to Liquor Habit. — The records of 
the courts show th:it crime among our people is trace- 
able in a large majority of cases to a too free exercise 
of the liquor habit. Of the men belonging to the race 
who were hanged, I think it entirely reasonable to say 
that at least four-fifths committed their offenses while 
under the influence of liquor. But speaking of the 
race broadly, and duly allowing for all the unusual cir- 
cumstances that ought to be taken into consideration, 
I think it cannot fairly be charged with anything like 
gross intemperance. 

Delirium Tremens. — It is something out of the usual 
order U) come upon a case of delirium tremens among 
the Negroes. Comparatively few of them drink any- 
thing of consequence during the week, but excessive 
iml)ibation is mostly indulged in on Saturdays. 

Not a Race of Drunkards. — Therefore this is not a 
race of drunkards, and there is abundant reason for 
believing that with proper education and training it 
may be made a race of sober people and abstainers. 

Reliable Allies, — In order to strengthen the cause 
of temperance in the South, nothing is more important 
than to treat the Negro fairly, and to keep faith with 



MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 175 

him, to permit no pledge to be broken. Once won, the 
colored man is the most faithful and reliable of all 
allies. It is, of course, needless to add that the supply 
of temperance literature should be kept up and 
increased. " 

Educational Institutions. — Especially valuable is 
the work of arousing total abstinence enthusiasm 
among the students in the various educational insti- 
tutions — young men, and women too, upon whom the 
future of the race and its influence for good or evil so 
largely depends. I am indeed hopeful for the future 
of the Afro- American race, and particularly hopeful 
that it will become a positive and influential contributor 
to the triumph of the temperance reform. 

The Shame of a Christian Nation. — It is estimated 
that Christendom has introduced 70,000 gallons of rum 
into Africa to every missionary. In the great Congo 
Free State there are one hundred drunkards to one 
convert. Under the maddening influence of intoxicat- 
ing drink sent from New England two hundred Congo- 
ans slaughtered each other. One gallon of rum caused 
a fight in which fifty were slain. 

A Sad End. — A generation since there lived in a 
western city a wealthy Englishman who was what is 
called a high liver. He drank his toddy in the morn- 
ing, washed down his lunch with champagne, and 
finished a bottle of port for dinner, though he com- 
plained that the heavy wines here did not agree with 
him, owing to the climate. He died of gout at fifty 
years, leaving four sons. One of them became an 
epileptic, two died from drinking. Called good fellows, 
generous, witty, honorable young men, but before 
middle age miserable sots. The oldest of the brothers 
was a man of fixed habits, occupying a leading place 



176 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

in the community from his keen intelligence, integrity 
and irreproachable morals. He watched over his 
brothers, laid them in their graves, and never ceased 
to denounce the vice which had ruined them; and 
when he was long past middle age financial trouble 
threw him into a low, nervous condition, for which 
wine was prescribed. He drank but one bottle. Shortly 
after his affairs were righted and his health and spirits 
returned, but it was observed that once or twice a year 
he mysteriously disappeared for a month or six weeks. 
Nor wife, nor children, nor even his partner, knew 
where he went ; but at last, when he was old and gray- 
headed, his wife was telegraphed from a neighboring 
obscure village where she found him dying of ma?na a 
potu. He had been in the habit of hiding there when 
the desire for liquor became maddening, and when 
there he drank like a brute." 

Temperance Resolutions Adopted by the A. M. E. 
Church. — The African Methodist Episcopal Church, 
at its General Conference, held in Indianapolis, Indi- 
ana, adopted the following resolutions : 

''Resolved: i. That we discourage the manufacture, 
sale and use of all alcoholic and malt liquors. 

"2. That we discourage the use of tobacco by our 
ministers and people. 

"3. That we discourage the use of opium and snuff. 

"4. That we endorse the great prohibition move- 
ment in this country, also work done by the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union, and will use all honora- 
ble means to suppress the evils growing out of intem- 
perance. 

"5. That it shall be a crime for any minister or 
member of the A. M. E. Church to fiorht ao^ainst tem- 
perance, and if convicted of this crime he shall lose his 
place in the conference and the church." 



MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 177 

The bishops at this same conference said in their 
address.- "We should allow no minister, or member 
who votes, writes, lectures or preaches to uphold the 
rum trade to retain his membership, either in the con- 
ference or in the church. And those who are addicted to 
strong drink, either ministers or laymen, should have 
no place among us. Visit our station houses, bride- 
wells, jails, almshouses, and penitentiaries, and you 
will there witness the effects of this horror of horrors. 
Rum has dug the grave of the American Indian so 
deep that it* will never be resurrected. If we would 
escape the same fate as a church and race, we must be 
temperate. 

"Some of the loftiest intellects have been blasted 
and blighted by this terrible curse. The use of wine 
at weddings should never be encouraged by our minis- 
ters; it is often the beginning of a blasted life." 

Woman in Temperance. — Mrs. McCurdy, corre- 
sponding secretary of the Georgia W. C. T. U. for col- 
ored women, says: "The call for 'God and home in 
every land,' is growing to be more popular than in 
former years. Ministers all over the Southland are 
taking hold of the temperance question and are agitat- 
ing it as never before. They see that 

"Mental suasion for the thinker 
Moral suasion for the drinker 
Legal suasion for the drunkard maker 
Prison suasion for the statute breaker " 

are not virtues and therefore will not bring about 
the desired end. We are growing in numbers and are 
believing that among the Christian races temperance 
is a cardinal virtue, upon which physical strength, 
moral worth, social happiness and political tranquillity 
depend." 

12 



178 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

ff 

Evils of Alcohol as a Beverage. -The shackles of 
strong- drink are more stalling- than were the shackles 
of slavery. In saying this we do not discount the 
horrors of the slave pen and the auction-block. The 
slave-master could not put shackles on the rna)i, the 
immortal. President Lincoln, with the aid of General 
Grant and his mighty host, could proclaim liberty to 
the captive; but in the war against King Alcohol, each 
man must be his own emancipator. 

The horrors or intemperance are known to the most 
thoughtless. Every intelligent person " knows the 
awful effects of alcohol on the intellectual, moral, and 
religious nature ot man. But, strange as it may 
seem, "the multitude" believe that alcohol has the 
power to give life, vitality, energy, force to the body ; 
that it is needful in heat or cold. But, listen! The fol- 
lowing statements are made by the president of one of 
the largest life insurance companies in America: "A 
group of total abstainers, aged 20, will, on the average, 
live 44.2 years apiece; a group of moderate drinkers, 
aged 20, will, on the average, live 15.6 years apiece. 
A group of total abstainers, aged 30, will, on the aver- 
age, live 36.5 years apiece; a group of moderate drink- 
ers, aged 30, will, on the average, live 13 years apiece. 
A group of total abstainers, aged 40, wilL on the aver- 
age, live 28.8 years apiece; a group of moderate drink- 
ers, aged 40, will, on the average, live 11. 6 years 
apiece." 

It will be seen by the above testimony that total ab- 
stainers between the ages of 20 and 40 have 23 years' 
advantage over the users of alcoholic beverages in the 
expectancy of life. This, of course, has reference to 
the average man of his class. 

Smoking a Crime. — Tobacco was early introduced 
into ICurope. Its use, however, was condemned, and 



MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 179 

the Sultan of Turkey declared smoking a crime, and 
death of the most cruel kind was fixed as the punish- 
ment. In Russia, the "noses of the smokers were cut 
off in the earlier part of the seventeenth century." 
Its use was described by King James I of England, as 
*'a custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, 
harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in 
the black, stinking fume thereof nearest resembling 
the horrible Stygian smoke of the pit that is bottom- 
less." 

Tobacco a Poison. — Dr. J. H. Kellogg, M. D., in 
Health Science Leaflet, No. 216, says: "Chemists, 
botanists and physicians unite in pronouncing tobacco 
one of the most deadly poisons known. No other 
poison, with the exception of Prussic acid, will cause 
death so quickly, only three or four minutes being 
required for a fatal dose to produce its .full effect. 

Nicotine. — "The active principle of tobacco, that is, 
that to which its narcotic and poisonous properties are 
due, is nicotine, a heavy, oily substance which may be 
separated from the dry leaf of the plant by distillation 
or infusion. The proportion of nicotine varies from 
two to eight per cent. A pound of tobacco contains on 
an average 380 grains of this deadly poison, of which 
one-tenth of a grain will kill a dog in ten minutes. 

Killed in Thirty Seconds. — "A case is on record in 
which a man'was killed in thirty seconds by this poison. 
Hottentots use the oil of tobacco to kill snakes, a single 
drop causing death as quickly as a lightning stroke. 
It is largely used by gardeners and keepers of green- 
houses to destroy grubs and noxious insects (its proper 
usefulness)." 

Habit of Smoking. — The habit of smoking was dis- 
covered on the island of Cuba. Two sailors who were 



180 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



sent by Columbus to explore the island report that: 
"Among many other strange and curious discoveries, 
the natives carried with them lighted fire brands, and 
puffed smoke from their mouths and noses, which they 
supposed to be the way savages had for perfuming 
themselves. They afterwards declared that they 'saw 




ROBERT H. BONNER, ORISHANTKEH FREDREMAS. 

New Haven, Conn. Grad. Theol. Dept, Ceylon, West Africa. 

CHAS. H. BOYER, HENRY H. PROCTOR. 

Maryland Academical Dept. Graduate Theological Dept. , 

Yale University. 

the naked savages twist large leaves together and 
smoke like devils.' " 

Filthy and Pernicious. — The use of tobacco is both 
filthy and pernicious. "Keep thyself pure," was 
Paul's injunction to Timothy; and again he says, "Let 



MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 181 

US cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and 
spirit." *'If any man defile the temple of God, him 
shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which 
temple we are. ' ' 

Leaders Needed. — Since the death of Dr. J. C. Price, 
of Livingstone College, Rev. J. H. Hector, of York, 
Pa., is the most popular temperance lecturer of the 
race. The race sadly needs a great leader in the tem- 
perance work, a leader who will inspire the hosts to 
active and progressive measures. 

Moral Status. — President Wright says: ''One who 
does not know the character of the moral lives of the 
colored people at the emancipation is incapable of ren- 
dering an opinion as to the Negro's moral status now. 
It is extremely difficult to measure the distance of the 
advancement or to estimate the weight and quality of 
the good that has been done. No people have made 
further advancement in moral and Christian character. 
The schools have given them eyes to see. Eyes to 
see themselves as others saw them, and year after 
year vice and ignorance have become odious. In 1865 
there was scarcely any Negro homes in all Georgia. 
In 1870 they could be easily counted. Who but the 
census taker would undertake such a task to-day? 
There is taxable property of some sixteen millions of 
dollars, and thousands of comfortable homes in the 
city and rural districts. None have become very rich 
but many have made a good start in life. There are 
over five hundred good business establishments whose 
affairs are conducted wholly by colored men. 

Business World. — The Negro is taking a reliable, 
useful, and honorable place in the business and indus- 
trial world. He is becoming an intelligent producer 
and developer of the resources of this great state. 



182 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Under the benign influence of private and public schools 
he is becoming patriotic; he is purchasing land and 
fixing himself to the soil. 

Discourtesies and Insults.— He is becoming more 
sensitive with regard to discourtesies and insults. His 
restiveness is the natural result of his increased intelli- 
gence and love for his country in common with others. 
He may even grow defiant in the face of these out- 
rages, if continued. The intelligence and means 
among the colored people inspire confidence and respect 
on the part of the whites. There is practically no 
trouble or possibility of trouble between the intelli- 
gent and upright colored people and the same class of 
white people. This is what Christian and industrial 
education has done. The Negro, or Southern prob- 
lem, finds its key in the education of the race. The 
Negro should not only be given every opportunity the 
state can afford for elementary education, but should 
be urged to avail himself of these opportunities. 

Criminals. — There are in Georgia more than five 
thousand Negro criminals ; about twice the number of 
colored teachers. Very few of these criminals can read 
or write. Here is found the connection between crime 
and ignorance. Education is not a panacea for crime, 
but, in proportion to the intelligence of the colored 
people of a given community, the number of actual 
and alleged crimes among that class of citizens has 
decreased. 

Professions. — There are in Georgia some twenty- 
five physicians, two pharmacists, seven lawyers, and 
half a dozen newspaper editors. Some of these, how- 
ever, have not been broadly educated. What Georgia 
needs most is men who can clearly and wisely state the 
needs of the colored people. 



oo 



MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 18 

Trade Education. — While the work in the schools 
has included industrial training, yet very little legiti- 
mate and genuine trade teaching has been done until 
within the last few years. The entire number of per- 
sons who have learned, in all these schools, enough of 
a trade to make them as safe in following it as it would 
in attempting to teach school, is very small. This is 
the natural result of the beginnings. There is, how- 
ever, an awakening on these lines, and a demand for 
abler and better teachers and advantages in industrial 
work. The colored people are at a point in their 
natural and material development when everybody 
recognizes the pressing need of more attention to the 
teaching of trades. The march of the Negro race 
towards the better day will not be only along the class 
of classic learning, but its pathway of victory must be 
as well through the physical sciences and along the 
avenues of industrial and business enterprises. The 
demands of the times are for genuine industrial teach- 
ing, which sends a young man into the world with an 
industrial bent that fits him for his life work; that 
gives him a trade by which he may support himself and 
benefit the world. 

Patents. — The colored patentees of the Union are 
credited with more than sixty useful inventions. This 
clearly shows that the Negro has genias and skill, and 
the means and opportunities now presented aid in the 
development and training of their genius. Perhaps no 
other school can come nearer to filling the demands 
than the industrial school well equipped and with a 
liberal curriculum. 

Debt of Gratitude. — The colored people of the South 
are under an everlasting debt of gratitude to the phil- 
anthropists of the country, north and south, who have 



184 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

done so much to raise them from their low estate. 
While it is difficult to estimate the amount of money 
spent by the states and different benevolent institu- 
tions for the education of the colored people, the fact 
remains that a great and grand work has been done, 
and is being done, for their education. 

Our Country. — There are many and almost ancient 
ties that bind the Negro to the United Stats. There 
are numerous reasons why he should feel as much at 
home on the American soil as any man of any other 
nation that treads our shores. Among America's 
earliest explorers and discoverers, some of the boldest 
and bravest, and m.ost successful of our citizens, as 
early as 1529, were woolly-haired Negroes. From then 
until now, whether he is happy and prosperous in his 
Southland, or fighting the battles of the nation, the Ne- 
gro, by sweat and blood, identified himself with every 
phase and fiber of the American history and life. The 
pathway of the race has not been strewn with flowers, 
but it has steadily led towards the light. And to-day 
the Negro stands upon higher ground, where the light 
of liberty shines upon him more steadily. Standing 
here, new duties, new responsibilities, await him. 
In this broader day the demand is for more men of 
thought and action. 

Does Not Crave Domination, but Equality. — The 
Negro craves not domination. He simply asks for 
equalization of rights and privileges, such as belong to 
American citizens under the fundamental law of the 
hand. As an American citizen he cannot ask less nor 
be contented with less." 

Prejudice. — "Talks for the Times" says: "There are 
but very few white people in this country who are 
capable of passing fair judgment upon us as a race, for 



MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 185 

the large majority of them do not associate with us. 
The Jews have no extensive communion with the 
Samaritans. Now, it is a law in optics that the size of 
the visual angle varies with the distance of the body, 
and an object looks smaller as we recede from it. 
On this principle it is easy to account for the absurd 
and strange opinions of many of our white friends con- 
cerning us. They stand off at so magnificent a dis- 
tance from the Negro that they either lose sight of him 
altogether, or what they do see of him seems insignifi- 
cant and contemptible. 

Corruption of Public Men. — I am proud, too, to 
know, that in this transition period of ours we have 
among us a few public men of unimpeachable charac- 
ter. When Oscar Dunn was lieutenant-governor of 
Louisiana a certain white man, interested in a bill 
before the legislature, endeavored by the use of 
money, to secure Mr. Dunn's influence in favor of that 
bill. The reply of that noble Negro was as withering 
as it was laconic: 'Sir,' said he, 'my conscience is not 
for sale. ' In that memorable presidential election 
when Messrs. Hayes and Tilden were candidates, a 
colored man in one of those Southern states, at that 
time a member of the electoral college, was approached 
by a white man and offered fifty thousand dollars for 
his vote for Mr. Tilden, being informed, at the same 
time, that it was a 'graveyard secret,' and that if he 
ever exposed the offerer of that sum death would be the 
penalty. I am proud to say that brave and faithful 
man rejected with scorn the proffered bribe. Would 
Anglo-Saxon morality have stood a better test against 
gilded corruption?" 

Toward the Light. — Professor Bowen says: "Before 
the war the Negro was a dumb driven and a dumb 



1S6 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

used cattle for work and for breeding. Shame, the 
virtue that Eve brought out of the Garden with her, 
that belongs alike to heathen and to Christian, was 
mocked, insulted and trampled under the merciless 
hoofs. The women were the tools for lechery. The 
whole head of the race was sick and the heart was faint ; 
bruises and putrefying sores covered the body of the 
race. To-day, in education, in morals, in spiritual 
power, the Negro is far superior. He marries accord- 
ine to law, rears his family in a home of culture and 
morality, and reaches up with divine aspirations to the 
ideal perfections of human nature. The women are 
women. And while it is true that, as a mass, the race 
has not yet attained unto all perfection, yet they press 
with vigor toward the mark and are far removed from 
that dark age. They are purer, their preachers have 
improved and are still improving in all the elements 
of moral power. 

Progress Since Freedom. — Says E. A. Johnson, in 
his history of the Negro race: "Through a century 
and a half we have traced our ancestors' history. 
We have seen how they performed the hard tasks 
assigned them by their masters ; followed the hoe and 
the plow with a laugh and a song; making magnificent 
estates, building mansions, furnishing them with the 
splendor of the times; so eager in patriotism as to be 
the ftrst to shed their blood on the altar of their 
country's liberty. All this they did with no other hope 
of reward than a slave's cabin and a life of bondage for 
themselves and children. Scarcely have they ever 
sought revenge in riot and bloodshed. Stolen from a 
home of savage freedom, they found themselves in 
straitened circumstances as slaves in America, but 
the greatness of the Negro's nature crops out plainly 



MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 187 

in the wonderful way in which he adapted himself to 
his new conditions. The fact that he went to work 
willingly, worked so long and faithfully, and rebelled 
so little, marks him as far superior to the Indian, who 
never accepts the conditions of labor, either for himself 
or another; and universally enjoys the rank of a savage 
rather than that of a civilized being. A plant placed 
in the window of a dark chamber gradually bends its 
foliage towards the sunlight ; so the Negro, surrounded 
by the darkness of slavery, bent his life toward the 
light of his master's God. He found Him. In Him he 
trusted, to Him he prayed, from Him he hoped for 
deliverance ; no people were ever more devout accord- 
ing to their knowledge of the word, no people ever 
suffered persecution more bravely, no people ever got 
more out of the few talents assigned them; and for 
this humble devotion, this implicit trust and faithful- 
ness, God has now rewarded them. The race comes 
out of slavery with more than it had before it went in. 
But there was no need of any slavery at all. James- 
town, New England, and other colonies might have 
held the Negro long enough to serve out his passage 
frOm Africa, and then given him his freedom, as they 
did their white slaves imported from England. The 
mistake was made then; the mistake became a law 
which the people were educated to believe was just. 
Many did not believe it, and some slave holders sought 
to make the condition of their slaves comfortable. The 
affection arising between the slave and his master often 
governed the treatment. The Negro, being largely 
endowed by nature with aft'ection, affability and a for- 
giving spirit, generally won for himself good treat- 
ment. Then, too, the master had some soul, and 
where that ingredient of his make-up was deficient, a 

13 Progress. 



1S8 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

selfish interest to the slave as his property somewhat 
modified the venom that might have more often visited 
itself upon the unfortunate slave in lashes and stripes. 

Many Affections and Friendships formed between 
master and slave exist to the present day. Some slaves 
are still at the old homestead, conditions entirely 
reversed, voting differently at the polls, but friends at 
home ; and in death the family of one follows that of 
the other to the grave. 

When the War Ended the whole South was in an 
unsettled condition, property destroyed, thousands of 
her sons dead on the battlefield, no credit, conquered. 
But if the condition of the whites was bad, that of the 
blacks was worse. They were without homes, money, 
or learning. They were now to feed, clothe and pro- 
tect themselves in a government whose treasury they 
had enriched with two and a half centuries of unre- 
quited labor, and a country whose laws they must obey 
but could not read. 

It Was Natural that they should make mistakes. 
But they made less mistakes than the bummers who 
came south for plunder during reconstruction times, 
and with the false promise of "forty acres and a mule, " 
led the unlettered race into a season of idleness and 
vain hopes. But this condition did not last. The 
Negro inherited the ability to work from the institu- 
tion of slavery. He soon set about to utilize this 
ability. I ask, what race could have done more. And 
this the Negro has done, though virtually ostracised 
from the avenues of trade and speculation. His admis- 
sion to a trades union is the exception rather than the 
rule in America. A colored boy taking a place as a 
porter in a store at the same time with a white boy, 
may find the white boy soon promoted to a clerkship, 



MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 189 

then to a partnership in the firm, if he is smart; but 
the colored boy remains, year after year, where he first 
commenced, no matter how worthy, no matter how 
competent. His lot is that of a menial; custom 
assigns him there, and in looking for clerks and part- 
ners he is not thought of by the white business man ; 
and thus, by the rigid laws of custom, he has continu- 
ally lost golden opportunities to forge his fortune ; yet 
he has prospered in spite of this, and it bespeaks for 
him a superior manhood." 

Best Specimens of Physical Manhood. — Under the 
influence of civilized customs and habits, they have 
improved in form and feature, until they have become 
strong, well proportioned, and can furnish some of the 
finest specimens of physical manhood in the world. 
They have improved equally in mental and moral 
traits. From naked barbarians they have become civ- 
ilized Christians. From groveling and stupid savages 
they have become intelligent and industrious work- 
men, skilled in many of the arts and all of the handi- 
crafts of civilized life. By this vast progress in so 
short a period, the Negroes have demonstrated a 
capacity, an aptitude for improvement, which should 
make us hesitate to predict that they cannot finally 
ascend, under favorable conditions, to the highest 
heights of human development. In that event the 
argument based on the inferiority and the color of the 
Negro must vanish. 

Not in Color. — Dr. Haygood truly says : *'The Negro 
cannot rise simply because he is black ; the white man 
cannot stay up simply because he is white. A man 
rises, not by the color of his skin, but by intelligence, 
industry and integrity. The foremost man in these 
excellencies and virtues must, in the long run. be also 
the brightest man." 



190 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Remarkable Advancement.— It should be remem- 
bered that less than thirty years ago the Negro started 
with less than nothing, having, as a slave, acquired 
habits of thriftlessness and wastefulness, unfitting him 
for the accumulation of property. In one generation 
he has managed to accumulate and pile up an aggre- 
gate of wealth that is simply enormous. 

Still in Idleness. — It is true that a considerable per- 
centage of the race still retain their habits of idleness 
which characterized them as slaves. It is true that a 
large percentage exhibit talents for accumulation, but 
are content to earn from day to day the wages of the 
day before, trusting to providence for the future. 
But there is a rapidly increasing number of those who 
exhibit decided financial ability. 

Honored Mention. — Starting in the most humble 
way, with limited intelligence and exceedingly circum- 
scribed knowledge in a manner in which economy is to 
be practiced, they have gone on from year to year 
accumulating a little until the savings, as represented 
by their property, have built churches, erected schools, 
paid teachers and preachers and greatly improved the 
home and home life. These results, coming through 
the liumble earnings of day labor deserve honorable 
mention. 

Just Judgment. — It is frequently the case that in 
contemplating the race as a mass it is judged by its 
worst representatives. This is unkind and unjust. 
The colored people of the South cannot justly be judged 
by the criminals among them, who have become con- 
spicuous for their evil deeds. They should rather be 
judged by the honest, hard-working men and women, 
who, beginning with nothing, in the course of one gen- 
eration accumulated an amount of property that even in 
our magnificent wealth forms no inconspicuous portion. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY. 



( ( 



'Above all let the Negro know that the elevation of 
his race can come only, and will come surely, through 
the elevation of its women. " 

Womanhood. — It is but a generation ago that the 
colored woman had no stand, and the term womanhood 
was not broad enough in this Christian republic to 
include women of African descent. Her birthright 
was supposed to be that of banishment from high social 
circles. In spite of the prejudice against her she has, 
in a remarkable way, emerged from obscurity and over- 
come the prejudice so that to-day she stands on such a 
level that no one would have supposed her to have had 
any relationship with slavery in the recent past. 

Appreciative. — That the colored women of to-day 
are appreciating the value of culture and industries is 
shown in their readiness to enter all open doors in this 
direction. Universities and professional industries of 
this country and Europe find the colored women ready 
as soon as permission is granted. There are very few 
professions and callings into which they are not win- 
ning their way in spite of the prejudice that would 
restrict them to the lower walks of life. There are 
physicians and dentists, lawyers and linguists, musi- 
cians, stenographers and nurses, in this rising race that 
are an adornment to the position they hold. 

Good Wives. — Make it your highest aim to be good 
wives ; the race needs you and must depend upon you. 
When we come to calculate the forces that decide the 
destiny of nations it must be confessed that the 

191 



192 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 




MRS. MARY KICK rHKLPS, AUGUSTA, GA. 
See sketch in Chapter XIV. 

mightiest and grandest come from home, good homes, 
the very salt of society, the strength and joy of any 
nation. Then banish from your minds, I pray 3^ou, 
that labor in itself is harmful and degrading. 

National Association of Colored Women. — That the 
Afro-American woman appreciates her position is 
shown by the federation of women of that race. The 
second annual convention in 1896 was a representative 
body, many of tjie states having appointed delegates. 

In response to the address of welcome, Mrs. Sprague, 



THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY. 193 

only daughter of the late Frederick Douglass, in behalf 
of the federation said: "It is with gratification that I 
respond in behalf of the colored women of the United 
States to the gracious words just spoken. " 

False Impressions. — We are weary of the false 
impressions sent broadcast over the land about the 
colored woman's inferiority, her lack of virtue, and 
other qualities of noble womanhood. We wish to make 
it clear to the minds of your fellow countrymen and 
women that there are no essential elements of character 
that they deem worthy of cultivating that we do not 
desire to emulate ; that the sterling qualities of purity, 
virtue, benevolence and charity are not any more dor- 
mant in the breast of the black woman than in the 
white woman. While the white race has chronicled 
deeds of heroism and acts of mercy of the women of 
pioneer and other days, so Ave are pleased to note in 
the personality of such women as Phyllis Wheatley, 
Margaret Garner, Sojourner Truth, and our venerable 
friend, Harriet Tubman, sterling qualities of head, 
heart and hand. ' ' 

Wants. — Our wants are numerous. We want homes 
in which purity can be taught, not homes that are police 
court feeders. We want industrial schools, we want the 
dram shops closed, we want the pool rooms and gam- 
bling dens of every variety swept out of existence. 
We want kindergartens largely established, we want 
reform schools for our girls in such cities where the 
conscience of the white Christian is not elastic enough 
to take in the Negro child. Our progress depends in 
the united strength of both men and women. This is 
indeed the woman's era, and we are coming." 

Papers Read. — The enthusiasm, as well as the merit, 
of papers read before this convention is worthy of a 



11)4 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

place in any woman's convention in our land. That 
these representatives of the race are awake to the 
interest of their people is shown in the following 

Resolutions. — Whereas, The social conditions of the 
Afro-American race render home-making- and home- 
getting questions of supreme importance ; 

Resolved, That we heartily endorse the movement 
lately inaugurated in this city looking to the establish- 
ment and maintenance of industrial schools, wherein 
our youth may, by the co-ordinate training of hand, 
heart and head, thoroughly equip themselves for the 
great battle of life. 

Resolved, That we commend to the race the work 
being done at all institutions whose purpose it is to 
give our youth the higher and more truly practical 
education. 

Whereas, It is customary in some portions of this 
country for whole families to live in one room ; and, 

Whereas, The mothers of our people are sadly in 
need of appreciating the value of good homes ; be it 

Resolved, That we use our influence throughout the 
country to have mothers' meetings held, where the 
mothers of our race may be taught the necessity of pure 
homes and lives and privacy in home apartment. 

Provident Hospital. — The Provident Hospital and 
Training School for Nurses, in Chicago, recently organ- 
ized, has opened a field for the colored ladies, and they 
are availing themselves of opportunities and showing 
to the world that they are efficient and capable of fill- 
ing positions where the highest ideals of womanhood 
are needed. The colored women of to-day are proving 
themselves progressive, and are fully alive to their 
responsibilities, showing full well that out of "The 
social disorder of a bondaged race there shall arise a 



THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY. 195 

womanhood, strong, spirited, and chaste, in all the 
things that make for social uplifting and refinement. 

Womanhood Insulted.— Dr. Crmnmell says: "In her 
girlhood all the delicate tenderness of her sex has been 
rudely outraged. In the field, in the rude cabin, in 
the press-room, in the factory, she was thrown into the 
companionship of coarse and ignorant men. No chance 
was given her for delicate reserve or tender modesty. 
From her childhood she was the doomed victim of the 
grossest passion. All the virtues of her sex were 
utterly ignored. If the instinct of chastity asserted 
itself, then she had to fight like a tiger for the owner- 
ship and possession of her own person, and ofttimes 
had to suffer pain and lacerations for her virtuous self- 
assertion. When she reached maturity all the tender 
instincts of her womanhood were ruthlessly violated. 
At the age of marriage — always prematurely antici- 
pated under slavery — she was mated as the stock of 
the plantation were mated, not to be the companion of 
a loved and chosen husband, but to be the breeder of 
human cattle for the field or the auction block. ' ' 

Purity. — "From a recent careful survey of every 
Southern state through nearly one hundred trusty 
observers," says Professor Bowen, "I have the testi- 
mony that the young women are pure in large num- 
bers, and are rapidly increasing in an intense desire 
and determination to preserve themselves chaste and 
pure from the lustful approaches of the sinner; and 
that the number of legally and lovingly married fam- 
ilies purely preserved in domestic and social virtues 
among husbands and wives, sons and daughters, is so 
far beyond the days of slavery that a comparison 
would minify the difference. The marvel is that the 
Negro had sufficient moral vitality left to make his way 



196 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

through the whirlpool of licentiousness to the solid 
rock of Christian character. From the harem life of 
the promiscuous and unnameable sins of slavery, some 
of which were the natural and fatal growth of pagan 
vices, others the fruit of prostitution, to the making of 
one clean, beautiful, noble and divine family and 
home, covers a period of intense moral, spiritual and 
intellectual development, more magnificent than the 
geologic transformation of ages. Be it known that this 
one family can be duplicated a hundred thousand times 
and more. " 

High Sense of Womanhood.— My experience has 
taught me to advise the race to cultivate a high sense 
of the womanhood of the race. This must begin with 
the mother. There is little of the family idea. Here 
the race is sadly deficient. The mother should teach 
the boy to honor his parent, his mother, to respect his 
sister, and, as a result, other men's sisters. To rever- 
ence the seat of the family. In this way alone will the 
marriage relation which becomes less sacred year by 
year, be the power and ennobling agency for the sal- 
vation of our people. 

Character. — Learning, culture and wealth must not 
be sought for as an end to existence, but as a means 
to the only true purpose of life. 

Unity of Race. — We must have a greater solidarity 
of race. There are some individuals, but no classes, 
of the white race in this country who love us. Some 
of them give us money, but it is out of pity. With no 
one to love us, we must love ourselves. Until the 
Negro race is more united we can have no real and 
lasting success. 

Virtue. — Fear of God, love of true devotion to 
righteousness must possess us. The principal virtiies 



THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY. 197 

to be maintained by the industries of families, by the 
assiduity of teachers, and by the discipline of fathers, 
by the tears, entreaties and prayers of the mothers, 
by the devotedness of churches, by the zeal and purity 
of the ministers, by the modest chastity of maidens, by 
the morality and self-control of youths and young 
men, by the piety and beauty of obedient children. 

Ebb and Flow. — I have no fear of the ultimate tri- 
umphs of these principles. Great evil is manifest on 
every side ; once in a while it looks as though the devil 
were going to be the charioteer of the race-course of 
life, but you will notice that these abnormal things are 
only phases of the ebb and flow of the great river of 
life — the central current flows to God. 

"A wiser spirit is at work for us, 
A greater hand than ours. " 

The Mother of Douglass — Douglass, who, as many 
able judges hold, was one of the most remarkable men 
America has produced in this century — this Douglass 
had a mother, who, though sold off from her boy on a 
distant plantation, would walk, after her day's work, 
in the darkness of the night, a number of miles and 
back before the driver's call in the morning — and all 
this that she might spend just one hour with her little 
Fred. Who can love like a mother? Who can tell how 
much that mother's love contributed toward the great- 
ness of the man? The exaltation of a race depends 
largly upon the mothers of the race. Is the Negro 
mother of today conscious of the fact that the ennob- 
ling and elevating of the race is largely to be decided 
by her influences? 

Woman a Teacher. — Mrs. Mary Rice Phelps says: 
"To what extent does woman teach, and where does 
her tutorage begin? Every woman is a teacher, 



198 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

whether she be worthy or unworthy ; whether educated 
or ig-norant. In the home circle, and around the fire- 
side, her teaching begins with the first dawn of intelli- 
gence. This is her inalienable right, the charter 
given by the Almighty hand. It is she who first points 
out those paths which are so full of pleasantness and 
peace, and directs the innocent minds to a Heavenly 
Father. She makes her own life a daily example (we 
speak of the true woman) of all that is pure and ennob- 
ling. She it is who teaches those qualities that are so 
essential to any race or tribe of beings — morality, the 
corner stone in the building of any race ; Christianity, 
the thread that must make the warp and woof of a pros- 
perous people ; economy, one of the foundations stones 
that cannot be dispensed with. 

Responsibility. — It is a woman's responsibility to 
teach the coming generations to live inside of their 
means, and to reserve extra pennies for rainy days 
(they will be sure to come), and secure a home for old 
age. How many are paid large salaries, "live high," 
immindful of the future, and end their existence in 
the almshouse? 

Ignorance and Poverty. — The time is fast approach- 
ing, so near that we can hear his footsteps in the 'dis- 
tance, when nobody will care for that class of persons 
who are content to live in poverty. Such have neg- 
lected opportunities, misused means and wasted time. 
They are content to know little, and possess less, a 
universal sentiment, because it is a universal experi- 
ence. 

Woman's responsibility is great, and its importance 
vast, when we analyze it. She alone has the power to 
set at naught the monster "ignorance," uproot "base 
desire," break down the barrier, "prejudice," and 



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THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO- DAY. 199 

bury the race problem under the black pall of oblivion, 
beyond the possibility of a resurrection. Why should 
she fill a position as a public teacher? Why, because 
our educated men are needed for so many vocations 
that the work of teaching is left almost wholly to 
women. 

Great and Multifarious. — Woman's work ifi the 
world is great and multifarious. It is a work which 
she alone can do. We do not mean to compare her 
with man, but compare woman with woman. Judge 
of what I can do by what I have done ; of what women 
can do by what they have done. She can inspire when 
man fails. 'Tis hers to uplift, purify and adorn. What 
great cause of the world has brought about the desired 
result without woman's help. She did not bring down 
the lightning and connect electricity with thought, 
that different countries could talk to each other; but 
what did not the Reformation owe to the clear, womanly 
insiofht of Catherine Von Bora? Does not American 
independence owe much to the courage and steadfast 
resolution of the women of the Revolution? 

Power Given Woman. — 'Tis woman's responsibility 
to teach the young men what it is to be true men; 
what it is to be a loyal man; 'a man' in every sense 
of the word. To teach the young woinan to be 
womanly ; that it is honorable to work ; that fashiona- 
ble and frivolous women, who live only in self-indul- 
gence and to have a 'good time,' are a dead weight 
upon their parents and a blot in society. In the age 
of chivalry and knighthood the laws of human nature 
were expressed when the crowning of the victor was 
assigned to woman's hand. As on the knightly fields, 
so it is on the great battlefield of life, contestants and 
combatants are animated and encouraged by woman's 
approval and cheering words. 



200 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Drudge of the Nation. — In the dark ages of the 
world's history she was the drudge of the nation, and 
considered only capable of doing menial work. But 
with the birth of Christianity she broke the manacle 
of society and conventionalism and came forth full- 
fledged, exerting power in every sphere of life. There 
is no home where her power is not felt, from the low- 
liest cabin to the king's palace. 

The Center. — Woman's power is very great. She 
was not the first to pry with microscopic eyes and dis- 
cover the startling truth that a single drop of water 
is crowded with a million [^living forms playing their 
part in the great drama of life. But she may be styled 
the axle on which the great wheel of society turns. 
If you ask of her devotion, behold Rizah defending her 
dead. If you would know of her stern training we 
have the words of the Spartan mother to her son as she 
buckles on his shield and bids him 'Return from the 
battlefield either with your shield or upon it. ' If you 
would know of her military ability, we point to 'Joan 
of Ark, ' as she clads herself in the warrior's apparel 
and is victorious in battle. 

There are hosts of women we might name of our 
day, but sufhce it to say, she is to mankind what the 
sun is to the universe. She is the center around which 
society moves and the light by which they are guided. 

Young Women, did it ever occur to you that you had 
a great and awful responsibility resting upon you, and 
that you in part hold the destiny of our race in your 
hands? 

If you have never thought, I beg of you, in the name 
of all that is pure and right, to think now. If you 
have never been factors in the upbuilding of the Negro 
race, begin now to do your part. It has been said, 



THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY. 201 

'Whatever the women are the men will be sure to be. ' 
Knowing- this, fit yourself for the great emergency 
about you. 

Prepare Yourself to raise those about you to a higher 
standard of all that goes to make a true man and 
woman. Educate yourself. Don't be contented with 
mere smattering. 'A little learning is a dangerous 
thing.' Educate your heads, your hearts and your 
hands. Let your thought be as pure and your charac- 
ter as spotless as the snow upon the summit of the 
loftiest mountain where the feathered songsters have 
never plumed their wings for flight nor the sweet 
sound of their notes have ever been heard. 

Do Not Fail. — If you fail, young woman, to use this 
power, you fail positively, not negatively; so fail that 
you will drag down instead of elevate. This power is 
yours, and you cannot change it. It belongs to you as 
women. 

Begin Now. — If you have never been a factor in the 
upbuilding of your race, cotmt up the cost and begin to 
do your part. If you have never thought of your race 
pride, think now. Not only think, bvit act well your 
part. Without the ennobling power of the woman 
we can never be a great and noble race. If young 
men aspire to reach the highest pinnacles of fame, 
they rise but to fall lower, unless the w^omen are pure 
and will demand respect. Learn to resent insults, 
young women. Learn to respect and defend tne women 
of your race, young men. 

The World Will Feel It.— I would that I had a 
thousand tongues, and every tongue a thousand voices, 
and every voice a thousand echoes, that could reach 
from America to the utmost parts of Africa, and I 
would speak in loudest tone, with animating voice, to 

14 Progress. 



202 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

every Negro woman, and bid her take tip woman's 
responsibil'ity. Let colored women begin to act, beg-in 
to do, and exert their power in the right direction, 
and the world will feel it. Not as it would feel an 
earthquake shock, but as the globe feels the grand 
cohesive power which cements its heterogeneous masses 
and binds them into one harmonious band. " 

A New Era. — Mrs. Fannie Barrier Williams says: 
"A whole race of women, whose only heritage has 
been ignorance and isolation, needs no philosophers 
to lead them into a higher state. Their needs are 
elementary, and the duties of Christian women in their 
behalf are near, direct, and easy of comprehension. 
If the colored women who are sufficiently intelligent 
and warm-hearted to share in the responsibilities of 
helping where help is needed could be aroused from 
their do-nothing, unsympathetic and discouraged con- 
dition, and could be conscious of their opportunities 
for accomplishing good deeds, there would at once 
come the dawning of a new and better era for the 
American Negro. We would then understand that the 
question is not what we ought to demand, but what 
we can do; not what are our rights, but how we can 
best deserve them ; not so much how to condemn prej- 
udice, but how to remove its cause. The hour is not 
for the lamentations of Rachel, but for the hopes, cour- 
age and duty becoming women who are called b}^ large 
opportunities to noble work. If we would have the 
public interested in us and our needs, we must become 
interesting, and we will become interesting just as 
soon as we begin to help ourselves to the utmost extent 
of our opportunities. 

Home Life. — The one thing that should appeal most 
strongly to our hearts is the need of a better and purer 




MRS. J. W. E. BOWEN, 

President of the W. C. T. U., Georgia, No. 2. 
Formerly Professor of Music in Clark University, Atlanta, Ga, 




FANNIE BARRIER WILLIAMS, 

Lecturer, Chicago, Illinois, 



203 



204 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

home life among- our people in many parts of the 
South. I scarcely need tell you that our most embar- 
rassing heritage from slavery was a homelessness and a 
lack of home ties. All the sanctities of marriage, the 
precious instincts of motherhood, the spirit of family 
alliance, and the upbuilding of home as an institution 
of the human heart, were all ruthlessly ignored and 
fiercely prohibited by the requirements of slavery. 
Colored people in bondage were only as men, women 
and children, and not as fathers, mothers, sons and 
daughters, brothers and sisters. Family relationships 
and home sentiments were thus no part of the prepara- 
tion of colored people for freedom and citizenship. 
It is not agreeable to refer to these things, but they 
are mentioned merely to suggest to you how urgent 
and immensely important it is that we should be 
actively and helpfully interested in those poor women 
of the rural South, who, in darkness and without 
guides, are struggling to build homes and rear families. 
When we properly appreciate the fact that there can 
be no real advancement of the colored race without 
homes that are purified by all the influences of Christian 
virtues, it will seem strange that no large, earnest, 
directed and organized effort has been made to teach 
men and women the blessed meaning of home. 

One - Room Cabins. — The first thing that should 
interest us is the fact that thousands of colored fam- 
ilies in the South are still living in one-room cabins. 
Though the South is filled with our professors, minis- 
ters and smart politicians, yet few have attempted to 
teach these people the difference between a slave 
cabin and a Christian home. 

Booker T. Washington, who has done more for the 
practical education of the colored people in all things 



THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY. 205 

than any other one man in America, tells us that the 
one-room cabin is the very root of all social evils in the 
South. It also appears that this indiscriminate hud- 
dling together of a whole family, large or small, in one 
room, is due more to ignorance of a better way than 
to poverty. The reform so earnestly needed in the 
mode of living in a large part of the South should not 
be left to a few chance individuals who are struggling 
to effect it. 

Organization. — Colored women in every part of this 
country, who know what good homes mean to the well 
being of the colored race, should come together inorgan- 
ization to study the situation, and earnestly put in mo- 
tion every possible agency for reform. Such organiza- 
tion would learn at once, to their surprise and shame, 
how many things they could do that are not being done. 
They will learn that those who need our hearts, hands 
and advice are not suffering so much for want of equal 
rights, and political rights, and some easy escape 
from prejudice, as they are for the simplest necessities 
that make for decency, order and the sanctities of 
home making. Thousands of our women in the South 
are eager to learn some of the primary lessons of house- 
hold sanitation, moral guides, mental stimulants, and 
the purifying environments for the children of their 
hearts; yet these yearnings are not heeded by those 
who can help and comfort them. 

System. — Thousands of capable young women and 
men, who are eager for enlightenment and culture, are 
without books, papers and pictures, yet good literature 
and art of all kinds are prodigally wasted under our 
feet, because there seems to be neither sense nor sym- 
pathy enough to know where to send them as rays of 
light into dark places. In short, there are a thousand 



206 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

sources of plenty and helpfulness for our fellow-men 
and women, if we could but organize agencies to com- 
mand and use them. 

Prejudice. — Do you know that thousands of our 
bright young women, comely and capable, are without 
employment partly on account of American prejudice, 
partly on account of their own timidity, and especially 
because no effort is made to suggest or to show them 
the many new fields of employment that they know 
not of? Do you know that the tendency of our time 
is to make all work respectable and honorable that is 
well and honorably done? And that our girls who can 
do housework better than anything else should be as 
much respected for doing it as they would be if making 
less wages as clerks? Do you know that thousands of 
our young men are reckless and unworthy of their 
privileges because they have no inspiration to better 
things, and no rebuke from young women? Do you 
know that our ministers would be nobler in all things, 
in all the best attributes of their calling, if our women 
were to insist upon it? Do you know that all things 
that are pure, healthful and sacred, in the relations of 
husband and wife and child, depend primarily upon 
worthy women? All these things and many more of 
like nature are suggested to women who come together 
in a spirit of reform. Surely, we have something more 
than sorrow, complaint and tears. 

Work Left to Colored Women. — Colored women of 
culture and force of character can do much to urge this 
thought upon women of the dominant race. If I may 
be pardoned a personal reference, I will say that my 
best reward in meeting and talking to representative 
white women, at all times and places, is that they are 
so susceptible to the idea that they need us to some 



THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY. 207 

extent in the same way that we need them. All state- 
ments to them concerning our wrongs and how we 
suffer under all forms of injustice are received with 
startling surprise. I have been happily repaid for all 
my efforts by fewest assurances of many of the women 
in the country that they have been converted to right 
thinking concerning us. We may feel safe in the belief 
that the women who are strong enough to resist the 
domination of fashion's nonsense and the snobbery of 
caste are ever ready to lay aside their false presump- 
tion against us, and accept the truth of our cause if we 
would but put ourselves more in evidence in their 
efforts to benefit humanity. 

Self Respect. — I would also appeal to the hearts of 
our women for a stronger sense of self-respect. 
I believe that it is an infallible rule that people are 
weak who believe themselves weak. We help to make 
ourselves unimportant and underestimated by the habit 
of confessing our inferiority. We are everywhere 
hampered by the false and cringing notions that certain 
positions and achievements are beyond our reach. 
Hundreds of young men and women graduate with 
high academic honors from schools and colleges and 
pass at once into obscurity, as much because of their 
own low sense of self-importance as from the resisting 
force of popular prejudice. 

' In Bondage. — Thirty-five years ago we alone were in 
the wilderness of bondage, crying aloud for freedom. 
Our happy release from that condition thrilled men and 
vv^omen everywhere with a most exalted sense of the 
value and sweetness of liberty. To-day we are not 
alone in any of our claims, disabilities, wants and 
hopes. That large number of w^retched women who 
are stitching their lives out in the sweat shops of our 



208 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

large cities in order to get a crumb of bread for their 
children, the toiling men and women of the land who 
groan and smart under the oppressions of wealth, 
women of all kinds and conditions who are restive 
under the restraint imposed by senseless customs and 
unjust laws, in fact all our cotmtrymen who are con- 
scious of being forced to live short of a complete enjoy- 
ment of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, are 
with us in our every contention. 

No Monopoly. — We as surely have no monopoly of 
misery as we have no monopoly of fortune ; there is 
somewhere and somehow a compensation for every 
difficulty we meet and complain of. Our poetry has 
opened the floodgates of philanthropy, prejudice has 
multiplied our friends and has tended to sharpen the 
mettle of our character, and all forms of injustice 
against us react in terms of justice for us. Indeed, 
our advantages and opportunities are large, exalting^ 
and a part of the very constitution of things. 

How to Win. — We are women claiming, yearning 
and aspiring for rights at a time when woman's win- 
some voice of supplication, of stern command, is heard 
and heeded above the din and clamor of the times. 
Would you win the interest and confidence of the 
world? The answer comes from a thousand sources: 
Be brave in the consciousness of your own worth, be 
beautifully graced with all that virtue asks in woman 
and you shall in time remove from all laws, ways and 
customs the darkening blight of woman's prejudices 
against woman." 

A True Lady. — Mrs. M. A. McCurdy says: "A true 
lady is, to a great extent, judged by her conversation 
and behavior when on the street or in any public con- 
veyance. To hear a woman or a girl talk loudly on 




208a 




208b 



THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY. 209 

the street or in a street car, is a practice quite unbe- 
coming and disagreeable, because it is common. 

Company. — Our girls should beware the company 
they keep, for "on the choice of friends our good or 
evil name depends," and the girl w^ho is seen with 
common, ill-bred, or rude companions, no matter how 
ladylike she herself may be, will, as a rule, be judged 
by them. 

Books and Papers, — The books and papers that a 
girl reads have much to do in forming her habits and 
character of conversation. If she reads the poor and 
trashy books which she finds exposed for sale on many 
newspaper stands, her mental life will, of necessity, 
partake of the character of the poor, unwholesome 
food with which she feeds it. If, on the other hand, 
she reads instructive and interesting books and papers, 
which she may obtain at no greater cost, she will be 
laying the foundation of a good, useful and happy life 
in the future. 

Amusements. — The question of girls' amusement is 
a very important one at the present time, because of 
the silly and vicious attractions that are being offered 
on every hand, and mothers should see that their girls 
are not present on all occasions, regardless of the fact 
that they are accompanied by some intimate gentleman 
friend, because true enjoyment is not to be found in 
continually attending places of amusement, but rather 
in living a quiet, wholesome life, doing one's duty from 
day to day, reading useful and inspiring books, doing 
our daily work, striving to do service for Christ on 
any and all occasions. Then let the girl be modest in 
her dress, careful as to what and to whom she talks, 
choice in her selection of books and companions, mod- 
erate as to her indulgence in amusements, and she will 



210 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

find that she will not only win the approval of all who 
casually come in contact with her, but the Lord will 
greatly bless her, and open ways for her to fit herself 
for usefulness in honored positions in the ranks of true 
ladies." 

Homes. — The following paragraph from ''Talks for 
the Times" is pertinent: "Young ladies, there is a 
vast and important field open to you. You are to build 
up the homes of a race. Having enjoyed the blessings 
of one for several years in your school life, it is 
expected that you will go forth to give deeper meaning 
to home life among the people. It will devolve upon 
you to teach them that home life does not mean ken- 
neling together like wild beasts, nor does it mean 
costly furniture and rich tapestry, for there may be 
more moral worth upon homespun than under silk, and 
more real happiness in a Christian log cabin than in a 
Godless mansion, whose floors are spread with English 
velvet, and whose windows are draped with lace cur- 
tains. It will devolve upon you to teach them that a 
home means mutual respect and mutual affection, 
mutual confidence and harmonious co-operation. May 
it never be said of the young ladies who graduate in 
colored schools that they were found standing before 
the temple of fashion, while their ignorant and degraded 
sisters were perishing for lack of Christian instruction. ' ' 

Good Taste Displayed in Dress by the young colored 
women of the South is noticeable. The girls who earn 
money spend it to suit their own tastes, display good 
discrimination in the harmony of colors and the use of 
ornamentation, and a choice for delicacy of fabric. 
Their scorn for high colors, especially red, and for 
bizarre effects, is amusing, and at the same time most 



THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY. 211 

suggestive, for here, too, we see the influence of tradi- 
tion and a rebound from previous conditions. 

The Negroes are an emotional people ; the emotions 
are the roots from which the esthetic sentiments 
spring, and in their education the development of the 
esthetic sensibilities should receive its full share. 

Duty to Perform. — "Young women, there is a duty 
for you to perform, also. It has been well said that "it 
is easy to judge what the men are when you know what 
the women are." Oh, the word woman! We pause to 
think of the purity and innocence which existed in her 
when first placed in the garden of Eden. Make society 
good by your Christian character, live so that the world 
will be better for your having lived in it. The path of 
duty in this world is not all gloom or sadness or dark- 
ness, and it is only when we turn to the right or left 
that we are lacerated by piercing thorns and concealed 
dangers. When we learn that doing our duty will help 
some poor, weak one, it will strengthen us and we will 
do more in the interests of our brothers and sisters. 
When we have a task to perform, we should go about 
it with a cheerful heart, with an eye single to doing 
our best ; then duty becomes a pleasure. 

Topmost Round. — Now, having attained woman- 
hood, let us aim to be first in the pursuit of our life's 
work ; we cannot reach the topmost round at once, and 
if we get there at all there must be something in us 
worthy of the upper rounds. Can we ask Him to be 
our guide who noticed the falling of a sparrow to the 
ground? Do so; then we will not choose the wrong 
path, we will not stumble in our darkest hours. We 
will not think solely of our slavery, of our closing hour, 
or how we will spend the evening, but will put our 
mind on our duties and resolve that they shall have 



212 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

the best that is in us; and, by and by, we shall enjo). 
the reward which is laid tip for the finally faithful." 

Possibilities. — Her possibilities for usefulness are 
great. She is not less capable than other women, she 
is endowed with the same emotions of love and of hate, 
joy and sorrow, of fear and faith. Why may she not 
be fired with the same ambition and have the same 
sense of right and wrong, the same regard for human- 
ity and love for God as her sister in white? Look at 
the host of noble, worthy women that have already 
written their names high. Early in the history of the 
race in this country Phyllis Wheatley, by her extraordi- 
nary intellectual power moved the hearts of men, 
and to this day stands out prominently as a literary 
genius. The posssibilities of the colored woman are 
great. What she has done she can do again. Yea, can 
increase in manifold ways. 

Difficulties. — That there are great difficulties to 
encounter in the* work must not be ovej'looked; 
that the negro woman is less fortunate than her white 
sister, is a fact. Poverty and prejudice prevail on every 
hand, but even this cannot quench her ambitions. 
Seeing the need of help to a race rising from degrada- 
tion nothing should prevent her from overcoming 
these great obstacles. 

Great Need. — The condition of homes in the South, 
languor and apathy of the many who have not yet real- 
ized their true condition and the possibilities of im- 
provement, suggests the great need of labor in brain, 
help and information to those so sadly in need of it.'* 

Our Homes. — While it is true that our homes should 
be models, that Christian character is most largely 
built there, here more than elsewhere should the power 
of woman exert itself in beautifying and cheering homes 



THE COLORED. WOMAN OF TO-DAY. 213 

and in cultivating' a taste for the true, the beautiful, 
and the ennobling. It is not necessary that wealth be 
ours, but even a humble home may be made beautiful 
and cheerful. 

Not Confined to Homes. — Although the work of the 
woman is largely in the homes, yet it is not confined 
entirely to the homes. Woman's sphere is anywhere 
where she may do good. Negro women are needed in 
the school room, where, next to the home, is found the 
place of character building, engraving on the tables of 
the useful mind that which will brighten through all 
eternity one of the noblest of occupations. 

Social Purity Among Our Girls. — The young girls 
of our race, especially those that throng larger cities, 
and who have no home influences to hold them, are 
being dragged down in numbers year by year. Here is 
a great work for leaders. The work done in the larger 
cities of the North in this line suggests to the colored 
women something of what may be done for their race. 
Be up and doing. Raise the fallen, and so fulfill the 
law of Christ. 

Industrial Schools. — Then again, the industrial 
schools w^here dressmaking, cooking, and the work of 
the home in general are taught, present a large field of 
usefulness among the women of the race. The work of 
Miss Lucy Laney, of Augusta, Ga. , suggests what 
might be done in these lines, were more to realize the 
possibilities of so great a harvest. 

Professional and Literary Workers. — Why should 
not women of the race, as well as their sisters in 
white, prepare to fill the professions of medicine, law, 
etc. What a great field for usefulness is open ! The 
young ladies cannot too early eater this field, where 



214 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

there is so great a need of work, and wliere such happy 
results are attained. 

Path of Duty. — The women of the race should then, 
in whatever sphere their lot is cast, follow the plain 
path of duty. Some may ask what recompense they 
are to receive for years of self-denial and toil? Man's 
ingratitude is not limited by race or color. Much may 
be accomplished in lifting up humanity, we may not be 
recognized, but we are not living with a view of 
notoriety, but what we desire to accomplish is some- 
thing in the elevating and ennobling those around us. 
With this end in view, let us follow closely in the path 
of duty and we shall, in due time, receive recompense 
and reward. 

Retrospective and Prospective View.— "Take a re- 
trospective view of the condition of the colored women 
a generation ago ; the advancement in all times is cer- 
tainly remarkable. The home has> been elevated and 
home and family ties have ennobled many lives, and 
the work of those who have so faithfully labored in 
this field is crowned with blessing on every hand. Let 
us not suppose that all has been done that can be done. 
There are many that are living only a little, if any, 
above the life of slavery, where true homes were un- 
known. It becomes the colored woman's duty of today 
to take courage from what has been done and seek in 
all the various avenues means and organizations to 
continue the work of raising and elevating the people 
of the race. We may not always realize our desires, 
but be sure that the united efforts of our women will, 
in time, demand the respect of evej'y race on the face 
of the earth." 

We take the following extracts from an address on 
''Enlightened Motherhood," given by Mrs. Frances 



COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY. 



215 



E. W. Harper, before the Brooklyn Literary Society: 
Thirty Years. — "It is thirty years since an emanci- 
pated people stood on the threshold of a new era, fac- 
ing an uncertain future — a legally unmarried race, to 




MRS. F. E. W. HARPER, 

Author and Lecturer, Philadelphia, Pa. See sketch of Life m 

Chapter XIV. 

be taught the sacredness of the marriage relation; an 

ignorant people, to be taught to read the book of 

Christian law, and to learn to comprehend more fully 

the claims of the gospel of the Christ of Calvary. 

A homeless race, to be gathered into homes of peace- 
is Progress 



216 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

ful security and to be instructed how to plant around 
their firesides the strongest batteries against the sins 
that degrade and the race vices that demoralize. 
A race unversed in the science of government and 
unskilled in the just administration of law, to be trans- 
lated from the old oligarchy of slavery into the new 
commonwealth of freedom, and to those men came the 
right to exchange the fetters on their wrists for the 
ballots in their right hands — a ballot which, if not 
vitiated by fraud, or restrained by intimidation, counts 
just as much as that of the most talented and influ- 
ential man in the land. 

Christian Women. — While politicians may stumble 
on the barren mountain of fretful controversy, and 
men, lacking faith in God and the invisible forces 
which make for righteousness, may shrink from the 
unsolved problems of the hour, into the hands of 
Christian women comes the opportunity of serving the 
ever-blessed Christ, by ministering to his little ones, 
and striving to make their homes the brightest spots on 
earth and the fairest types of Heaven. The school 
may instruct and the church may teach, but the home 
is an institution older than the church and antedating 
the school, and that is the place where children should 
be trained for useful citizenship on earth and a hope of 
holy companionship in Heaven. 

Home. — The home may be a humble spot, where 
there are no velvet carpets to hush your tread, no 
magnificence to surround your way, nor costly 
creations of painter's art or sculptor's skill to please 
your conceptions or gratify your tastes; but what 
are the costliest gifts of fortune when placed in the 
balance with the confiding .love of dear children or 
the ti-ue devotion of a noble and manly husband, whose 



THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY. 217 

heart can safely trust in his wife? You may place 
upon the brow of a true wife and mother the green- 
est laurels; you may crowd her hands with civic 
honors; but, after all, to her there will be no place 
like home, and the crown of her motherhood will be 
more precious than the diadem of a queen. 

Marriage. — As marriage is the mother of homes, it 
is important that the duties and responsibilities of this 
relation should be understood before it is entered on. 
A mistake made here may run through every avenue 
of the future, cast its shadow over all our coming 
years, and enter the lives of those whom we should 
shield with our love and defend with our care. We 
may be versed in ancient lore and modern learning, 
may be able to trace the path of worlds that roll in 
light and power on high, and to tell when comets shall 
cast their trail over our evening skies; we may under- 
stand the laws of stratification well enough to judge 
where lies the strain of silver, and where nature has 
hidden her virgin gold; we may be able to tell the 
story of departed nations and conquering chieftains, 
who have added pages of tears and blood to the world's 
history — but our education is deficient if we are per- 
fectly ignorant how to guide the little feet that are 
springing up so gladly in our path, and to see in unde- 
veloped possibilities gold more fine than the pavements 
of Heaven and gems more precious than the founda- 
tions of the holy city. Marriage should not be a blind 
rushing together of tastes and fancies, a mere union of 
fortunes or an affair of convenience; it should be a 
*tie that only love and truth should weave and nothing 
but death should part. 

Foundation Stones. — Marriage between two youth- 
ful and loving hearts means the laying of the founda- 



218 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

tion stones of a new home, and the woman who helps 
erect that home should be careful not to build it above 
the reeling brain of a drunkard, or the weakened fibre 
of a debauchee. If it be folly for a merchant to send 
an argosy, laden with the richest treasures, at mid- 
night on a moonless sea, without a rudder, compass, 
or guide, is it not madness for a woman to trust her 
future happiness, and the welfare of the dear children 
who may yet nestle in her arms and make music and 
sunshine around her fireside, in the unsteady hands of 
a characterless man, too lacking in self-respect and 
self-control to hold the helm and rudder of his own 
life ; who drifts where he ought to steer, and only lasts 
when he ought to live? 

A Good Character. — The moment the crown of 
motherhood falls on the brow of a young wife, God 
gives her a new interest in the welfare of the home and 
the good of society. If hitherto she has been content 
to trip through life a light-hearted girl, or to tread amid 
the halls of wealth and fashion the gayest of the gay, 
life holds for her now a high and noble service. She 
must be more than the child of pleasure or the devotee 
of fashion. Her work is grandly constructive. A help- 
less and ignorant babe lies smiling in her arms. God 
has trusted her with a child, and it is her privilege to 
help that child develop the most precious thing a man 
or woman can possess on earth, and that is a good char- 
acter. Moth may devour our finest garments, fire may 
consume and floods destroy our finest homes, rust may 
gather on our silver and tarnish our gold, but there is 
an asbestos that no fire can destroy, a treasure which 
will be richer for its service and better for its use, and 
that is a good character." 

A Single Standard. — ''I hold that no woman loves 



THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY. 219 

social purity as it deserves to be loved and valued, if 
she cares i'or the purity of her daughters and not her 
sons ; who would gather her dainty robes from contact 
with the fallen woman and yet greet with smiling lips 
and clasp with warm and welcoming hands the author 
of her wrong and ruin. How many mothers to-day 
shrink from a double standard for society which can 
ostracise a woman and condone the offense of the man? 
How many mothers say within their hearts, *I intend 
to teach my boy to be as pure in his life, as chaste in 
his conversation, as the young girl that sits at my side 
encircled in the warm clasp of loving arms?* How 
many mothers strive to have their boys shun the gilded 
saloon as they would the den of a deadly serpent? Not 
the mother who thoughtlessly sends her child to the 
saloon for a beverage to make merry with her friends. 
How many mothers teach their boys to shrink in horror 
from the fascinations of women, not as God made 
them, but as sin has degraded them? 

Ruined Manhood. — If you and I could walk through 
the wards of various hospitals at home and abroad, 
perhaps we would find hundreds, it may be thousands, 
of young men awaiting death as physical wrecks, hav- 
ing burned the candle of their lives at both ends. 
Were we to bend over their dying couches with pitying 
glances, and question them of their lives, perhaps 
numbers of them could tell sad stories of careless 
words from thoughtless lips that tainted their imagina- 
tions and sent their virus through their lives ; of young 
eyes, above which God has made the heavens so elo- 
quent in His praise, and the earth around so poetic 
in His ideas, turning from the splendor of the magnifi- 
cent sunsets or glorious early dawns, and finding 
allurement in the dreadful fascinations of sin, or learn- 

15 Progress. 



220 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

ing to gloat over impure pictures and vile literature. 
Then, later on, perhaps many of them could say, 'The 
first time I went to a house where there were revelry 
and song, and the dead were there and I knew it not, 
I went with men who were older than myself ; men 
who should have shown me how to avoid the pitfalls 
which lie in the path of the young, the tempted, the 
inexperienced, taught me to gather the flowers of sin, 
that blossom around the borders of hell. * 

Wise Mothers. — Suppose we dared to question a 
little further, not from idle curiosity, but for the sake 
of getting, from the dying, object lessons for the living, 
and say, *God gave you, an ignorant child, into the 
hands of a mother. Did she never warn you of your 
dangers, and teach j^ou how to avoid them?' How 
many could truthfully say, * My mother was wise enough 
to teach me and faithful enough to warn me'? If the 
cholera or yellow fever were raging in any part of this 
city, and to enter that section meant peril to health 
and life, what mother would permit her child to walk 
carelessly through a district where pestilence was 
breathing its bane upon the morning air and distilling 
its poison upon the midnight dews? And yet, when 
boys go from the fireside into the arena of life, how 
many ever go there forewarned and forearmed against 
the soft seductions of vice, against moral conditions 
which are worse than 'fever, plague and palsy, and 
madness all combined?' 

Ante-natal Life. — Among the things I would pre- 
sent for the enlightenment of mothers are attention to 
the laws of heredity and environment. Mrs. Winslow, 
in a paper on social purity, speaks of a package of let- 
ters she received from a young man of talent, good 
education, and a strong desire to live a pure and useful 



THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY. 221 

life. In boyhood he had ignorantly ruined his health, 
and, when he resolved to rise above his depressed con- 
dition, his own folly, his heredity and environment, 
weighed him down like an incubus. His appeals, she 
says, are most touching. He says: *If you cannot 
help me, what can I do? My mother cursed me with 
illegitimacy and hereditary insanity. I had left only 
the alternative of suicide and madness.' A fearful 
legacy ! For stolen money and slandered character we 
may make reparation, but the opportunity of putting 
the right stamp on an ante-natal life, if once gone, is 
gone forever; and there never was an angel of God, 
however bright, terrible, or strong he may be, who was 
ever strong enough to roll away the stone from the 
grave of a dead opportunity. 

Heredity. — Would it not be well for us women to 
introduce into all of our literary circles, for the purpose 
of gaining knowledge, topics on this subject of heredity 
and the influence of good and bad conditions upon the 
home life of the race, and study this subject in the light 
of science for our own and the benefit of others? For 
instance, may we not seriously ask the question, Can a 
mother or a father be a habitual tippler, or break God's 
law of social purity, and yet impart to their children, 
at the same time, abundant physical vitality and strong 
moral fibre? Can a father dash away the reins of moral 
restraint, and, at the same time, impart strong will 
power to his offspring? 

Aristocracy. — Men may boast of the aristocracy of 
blood ; they may glory in the aristocracy of talent, and 
be proud of the aristocracy of wealth, but there is an 
aristocracy which must ever outrank them all, and that 
is the aristocracy of character. 

"The work of the mothers of our race is grandly 



222 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

constructive. It is for us to build about the wreck and 
ruin of the past more stately temples of thought and 
action. Some races have been overthrown, dashed to 
pieces and destroyed; but to-day the world is needing, 
fainting, for something better than the results of arro- 
gance, aggressiveness and indomitable power. We 
need mothers who are capable of being character 
builders, patient, loving, strong, and true, whose 
homes will be an uplifting power in the race. 

Need of the Hour. — This one of the greatest needs 
of the hour. No race can afford to neglect the enlight- 
enment of its mothers. If you would have a clergy 
without virtue or morality, a manhood without honor, 
and a womanhood frivolous, mocking and ignorant, 
neglect the education of your daughters. But if, on 
the other hand, you would have strong men, virtuous 
women, and good homes, then enlighten your women, 
so that they may be able to bless their homes by the 
purity of their lives, the tenderness of their hearts, and 
the strength of their intellects. 

Science of a True Life. — From schools and colleges 
your children may come well versed in ancient lore 
and modern learning, but it is for us to learn and 
teach, within the shadow of our own homes, the high- 
est and best of all sciences, the science of a true life. 
When the last lay of the minstrel shall die upon his 
ashy lips, and the sweetest numbers of the poet cease 
to charm his death-dulled 'ear ; when the eye of the 
astronomer shall be too dim to mark the path of 
worlds that roll in light and power on high ; and when 
all our earthly knowledge has performed for us its 
mission, and we are ready to lay aside our environ- 
ments as garments we have outworn and outgrown : if 
we have learned the science of a true life, we may rest 



THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY. 



223 



assured that this acquirement will go with us through 
the valley and shadow of death, only to grow lighter 
and brighter through the eternities." 




MRS. MARGARET WASHINGTON, TUSKEGEE, ALA. 

Mrs. Washington is one of the ablest leaders of woman's meetings 
of her race. See sketch, Chapter XIV. 

National Meeting for 1897. — The National meeting 
of the colored women for 1897 was held September 15, 
in Nashville, Tennessee. The meeting was the most 
representative and enthusiastic yet held. All sections 



224 PROGKESS OF A RACE. 

of the country were represented by the best, brightest 
and most intellectual women of the race. We are glad 
to see that even in this city of the South the whites 
took more interest in this convention than in any pre- 
vious convention held. 

Fourth Meeting. — This is the fourth national as- 
sembly of women of African descent for the purpose 
of improving their social condition. It is estimated 
that the Association has a membership of ten thousand. 
Previous meetings have excited a widespread interest 
in the work. At a meeting a year ago the following 
five points were discussed : Improvement of the home 
life among the colored people ; industrial improvement 
of the girls ; better and more practical schools for girls ; 
temperance; abolishment of the convict lease system. 
There is not a phase of the many questions and reforms 
that are of special interest to women that has not com- 
manded the earnest attention and support of the colored 
women's organizations. There has been a ctirring and 
quickening among colored women of a sense of respon- 
sibility for whatever evil there is in the social life of 
'he race. 

Finding One's Place. — It is certainly no unimportant 
-ning to witness how readily the colored women of the 
country find their work and are going about it with the 
directness and single heartedness of true apostles of 
reform. They have faith in themselves and the sure 
and virtuous outcome of all for which they pray, plan 
and work. 

President's Address. — The able address of the Presi- 
dent of the National Association, Mrs. Mary Church 
Terrell, should be read by every colored woman. We 
have space for but a few short extracts : 

Not Discouraged. — It is not because we are dis- 



THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY. 225 

couraged at the progress made b)^ our people that we 
have uttered the cry of alarm which has called together 
this band of earnest women assembled here tonight. In 
the unprecedented advancement made by the Negro 
since his emancipation, we take great pride, and extract 
therefrom both courage and hope. From a condition 
of dense ignorance but thirty years ago, we have ad- 
vanced so far in the realms of knowledge and letters as 
to have produced scholars and authors of no mean 
repute. 

Progress. — Penniless as a race but a short time 
ago, we have among us today a few men of wealth, and 
multitudes who own their own homes and make com- 
fortable livings. We therefore challenge any other 
race to present a record more creditable, and show a 
progress more wonderful than that made by the ex- 
slaves of the United States of America, and that, too, in 
spite of prejudice, proscription and persecution against 
the like of which no other people has ever had to contend 
in the history of the world. 

Weakness and Defects. — And yet, while rejoicing in 
our steady march onward and upward to the best and 
highest things of life, we are nevertheless painfully 
mindful of our weaknesses and defects. While we 
know the Negro is no worse than other races equally 
poor, equally ignorant and equally oppressed, we would 
nevertheless see him lay aside the sins that do so easily 
beset him, and come forth clothed in all those attributes 
of mind and graces of character that stamp the real 
man. To compass this end through the simplest, 
swiftest, surest methods, the colored women have 
organized themselves into this association, whose power 
for good, let us hope, will be as enduring as it is un- 
limited. 



226 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

A Mission to Perform. — Believing that it is only 
through the home that a people can become really good 
and truly great, the N. A. C. W. shall enter that sacred 
domain to inculcate right principles of living and cor- 
rect false views of life. Homes, more homes, purer 
homes, better homes, is the text upon which our ser- 
mons to the masses must be preached. So long as the 
majority of a people call that place home in which the 
air is foul, the manners bad and the morals worse, 
just so long is this so-called home a menace to health, 
a breeder of vice, and the abode of crime. Not alone 
upon the inmates of these hovels are the awful conse- 
quences of their filth and immorality visited, but upon 
the heads of those who sit calmly by and make no effort 
to stem the tide of disease and vice will vengeance as 
surely fall. 

Mothers' Congress. — If the women of the dominant 
race, with all the centuries of education, culture and 
refinement back of them, with all their wealth of oppor- 
tunity ever present with them, if these women recently 
felt the necessity of calling a mothers' congress, that 
they might be enlightened as to the best method of 
rearing children and conducting their homes, how 
much more do the women of our .own race, from whom 
the shackles of slavery have just fallen, need informa- 
tion on the same subjects? Let us have a mothers' 
congress in every community in which our women can 
be found. 

Self-Respect. — Among other practical, suggestions as 
to their duty in the home, let us urge upon our mothers 
the necessity of increasing the self-respect of our chil- 
dren. Let the reckless, ill-advised, and oftentimes 
brutal, methods of punishing children be everywhere 
condemned. Let us teach our mothers that by punish- 



THE COLORED WOMAN OF TO-DAY. 



227 



ing children inhumanely, they destroy their pride, crush 
their spirit, and convert them into hardened culprits 
whom it will be impossible later on to reach or touch in 
any way at all. More than any other race at present 
in this country, we should strive to implant feelings of 
self-respect and pride in our children, whose spirits are 
crushed and whose hearts are saddened enough by the 
indignities from which, as victims of an unreasonable, 
cruel prejudice, it is impossible to shield them." 




MRS. MAKY CHURCH TERRELL, 

President National Association of Colored Women, 1896-97, 



228 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Colored Youth. — "The colored youth is vicious, we 
are told, and statistics showing the multitude of our 
boys and girls who fill the penitentiaries and crowd 
the jails appall and discourage us. Side by side with 
the^e facts and figures of crime, I would have pre- 
sented and pictured the miserable hovels from which 
these youthful criminals come. Crowded into alleys, 
many of them the haunts of vice, few if any of them 
in a proper sanitary condition, most of them fatal to 
mental or moral growth, and destructive of healthful, 
physical development as well, thousands of our children 
have wretched heritage indeed. 

Work in Homes. — "It is, therefore, into the home, 
sisters of the association, that we must go, filled with 
all the zeal and charity which such a mission demands. 
To the children of the race we owe, as women, a debt 
which can never be paid, until herculean efforts are 
made to rescue them from evil and shame, for which 
they are in no way responsible. Listen to the cry of 
the children, my sisters. Upon you they depend for 
the light of knowledge, and the blessing of a good 
example. As an organization of women, surely noth- 
ing can be nearer our hearts than the children, many 
of whose lives, so sad and dark, we brighten and bless. ' ' 



CHAPTER IX. 

PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES. 
FARMS AND HOMES SKILLED LABOR. 

Progress in Industries. — When we remember that 
thirty-five years ago the Negro was in slavery it is 
certainly remarkable to note the progress made in all 
lines of industry. Keeping in mind some of the diffi- 
culties the Negro has had to strive against the progress 
made in industries is commenda.ble. All throughout 
the South are found men who stand at the head in 
the various lines of business. Be it said to the credit 
of the colored people, and greatly to their benefit, that 
the race has in its possession a sound means of dis- 
playing its progress. 

United Efforts. — While much has been done in all 
lines of business, yet very much more remains to be 
done before the Negro holds that place in business to 
which he is entitled. In order to accomplish what 
should be done in this respect it is necessary that there 
be united efforts on the part of the race to assist one 
another in every business enterprise. Wherever men 
of the Negro race attempt to increase the advantages 
of the race there should be found those who stand by 
them and support them. With the full confidence and 
patronage of the people the Negro race will have rich 
merchants and capitalists carrying on rich business 
enterprises in every section of the country, that will 
demand the respect and recognition of the world. 

No More Speedy Remedy. — Let the race continue 
in the progress that it has made the last thirty years ; 
let the Negro push out into different enterprises and 

229 




230 



PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES. 231 

assist in controlling large business enterprises, and 
this alone will be worth more than any other remedy 
in suppressing and eradicating prejudice on account of 
color and blotting out the iniquitous legislation 
against the race in the South, wiping every unjust law 
from the statutes. 

A Progressive Age. — We live in a progressive age ; 
here we are in the evening of the nineteenth century 
with all the modern inventions and discoveries of the 
telegraph, telephone and electricity. There is no rea- 
son why the race should remain any longer in the dark. 
In unity there is strength, and when the colored people 
stand shoulder to shoulder, advancing the standard of 
the race in all industries, then will the colored man's 
prospects in business be as bright as those of the 
Anglo-Saxon. 

Race Pride, — In order that progress in these lines 
shall be made it is necessary that the colored men 
everywhere encourage one another, and when a colored 
man progresses in business not to envy his prosperity, 
but rather to be proud of him and his success, throw- 
ing away envy, jealousy and race hatred. Race pride 
must be cultivated. As the different nationalities, 
Irish, Jews, Germans and other people are recognized 
and respected only as they are united and held 
together, so it is essential that the Negroes should 
stand united in helping one another by their speech, 
by pen, by vote, and by money. 

Consumers. — The Negro race is a race of consumers, 
and it is essential that it be a race of producers. 
When it reaches this point, that the colored man is able 
to manufacture as well as consume, he will have the 
respect of all. The industrial schools of the South are 

16 Progress 



232 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

doing more in this respect, in bringing up the masses 
to a realization of their privileges, than any other 
agency. 

Brains and Labor. — If the Negro is to succeed it is 
essential that in the first place he dignify labor, and in 
the second place that he put brains into labor. 

Thrift and Industry.— Rev. J. E. Edwards, D. D., 
a white man of learning and exalted character, says: 
*'Hand in hand with the progress of education among 
the Negro population of Petersburg, Virginia, there 
has been a corresponding progress in industry, thrift, 
morals and manners of the race. Their ability to live 
at less' expense than the poor whites has enabled the 
more provident of them to lay by a larger surplus from 
their earnings, and, as a result, they are buying lots, 
and in some instances putting up comfortable and taste- 
fully constructed residences. The marriage relation 
is recognized by them as of more binding obligation 
than formerly, both in its civil and moral respects. 
The family idea is a healthful growth. Self-respect 
and self reliance are on the advance. 

Improving in Morals. — They are property owners, 
shop keepers, manufacturers, contractors, master build- 
ers, mechanics and laborers, competing fairly and with 
out let or hindrance with the whites. They are con- 
stantly improving in morals, in thrift and industry, and 
are rapidly advancing in civilization, refinement and 
learning. 

Peaceable Community. — The present population of 
Petersburg may be put down in round numbers at 22,000 
— say 10,000 whites and 12,000 colored — giving the 
Negroes 2,000 majority in the whole population. At 
the ballot-box the Negroes can poll a larger number 
than the whites. But with this predominance of the 



PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES. 233 

Negro population we have the most gratifying spectacle 
presented of one of the most orderly , quiet and peaceable 
communities anywhere to be found in all these broad 
lands. There is, comparatively, but little litigation in 
the civil courts of the corporation ; and the police record 
will compare favorably with that of any city of the same 
population in the whole country. The Mayor's court 
is often held without a case, even of misdemeanor. 
Felonies are infrequent, and of those that do occur, 
which are sent up to higher tribunals, the parties are 
quite as often white as colored. Disturbances of the 
peace are not more common among the Negroes than 
among the whites. Life, limb and property are as 
secure and as well protected in Petersburg by day and 
night as in any city of 22,000 population in the United 
States of America. 

No Idle Boasting. — The appeal from any question 
of these facts is to our records — police, civil and crim- 
inal; and when it is remembered that there are 12,000 
Negroes and only 10,000 whites in the city, the record 
is as creditable as it is really wonderful. It is very 
much questioned whether a parallel can be found in all 
this country. 

Testimonials of Hampton Students. — The following 
items taken from "Twenty-two years' work at Hamp- 
ton," being the testimony of graduates of that school, 
are worthy of consideration. If any one is unable to 
judge whether the Negro is rising or not, the reliable 
testimony of these graduates ought to decide the ques- 
tion : 

James A. Fields, Hampton, Virginia. — *'A11 things 
considered, the condition of the colored people is good. 
They are rapidly improving in religion, intelligence, 
and morals. My property consists mostly of land and 



234 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

house, in value six thousand dollars. I have only one 
child, the finest boy in Christendom. " 
David D. Weaver, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. — "I 

employ more help and do more work than any other 
colored shoemaker in Philadelphia, and have had the 
lead for five years. I am doing as .much for my people 
as I could in the school room. The colored people are 
progressing ; they work. The money is made and the 
money is spent The greatest barrier is that they do 
not look beyond to-day. They expect every day to 
take care of itself. With such short calculations they 
are often found wanting. There are many exceptions 
to this rule. There are men here who are doing good 
business and making great headway in the world." 

Lewis Peyton, Wabash, Indiana. — "The intellectual 
religious, moral, industrious and economical status of 
the people varies much in different sections of the 
country. Where they are settled down and have their 
homes and regular pursuits, they are prosperous, and 
every way in a prospering condition." 

George F. Calloway, Halifax County, Virginia.— 
*'In this section of the state our people show a decided 
improvement. As a rule, they are farmers. Some 
own their homes, and a few own large tracts of land 
varying from forty to twelve hundred acres. ' ' 

William P. Henry, Berlin, Maryland.— In this com- 
munity, which I believe was one of the worst places 
below Mason's and Dixon's line for prejudice and 
Negro persecution, the Negro people are grasping 
every effort that will lift them higher in the intel- 
lectual, moral and social scale. They are generally 
sober and industrious, and they adhere strictly to 
economy, through which the rude hut and log cabin 



PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES. 



235 



are rapidly being transformed into neat cottages, with 
their domestic improvements." 

L. L. Ivy, Danville, Virginia.— "The colored people 
in this vicinity are improving slowly but surely, get- 
ting little homes, and making great sacrifices to do as 
other people. " 




NEGRO farmer's ONE-ROOM LOG CABIN, 

William B. Weaver, Sassafras, Virginia.— *' The col- 
ored people in this neighborhood are industrious and 
temperate. Some accumulate property and have good 
homes, and are interested in the work of education. 

R. H. Matthews, Pensacola, Florida.— " On account 
of the large number of dram-shops and the tendency 
of our people to patronize them, their condition is not 
what we might desire. They are badly divided and 
will seldom unite for any public good; this is on 
account of the narrow and ignorant spirit engendered 
in our churches by ignorant ministers. Notwithstand- 



236 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

ing, there is gradual progress. Hard work, honesty 
and frugality are the means by which we are to rise, 
I own property in Columbus, Georgia, and in Pensa- 
cola worth three thousand dollars. ' ' 

Robert H. Hamilton, one of the Hampton Student 
Singers, now Assisting in the Normal at Tuskegee. — 
"To the thoughtful Negro there is a great deal in the 
condition of his people to make him sigh. Such a 
dense mass of humanity steeped in ignorance ! Who 
can foresee the danger and bloodshed that may yet 
overtake this sunny land? While these men and women 
have the minds of children, they have the passions of 
age. However, as dark as things may be, they are not 
so bad as they were. It is fair to say the Negro of the 
South is rising. ' ' 

Mrs. William Day, Greensboro, North Carolina. — 
"The general condition of our people in Greensboro is 
good. There are few renters now among good me- 
chanics. We have good schools and churches; one 
colored doctor. Our people have certainly improved 
themselves and are second to no other town in this 
respect" 

Mrs. F. Calloway, Lynchburg, Virginia. — "When I 
first came to this place there were not many people 
owning property. They were renting from their mas- 
ters or from some other white man, paying as much 
for a cabin a year as it would take to buy an acre of 
land. Some of the houses, actually, were not good 
enough for horses to stay in. Today for two or three 
miles around you will find colored people owning 
from two to twenty acres of land, horses, cows, farm- 
ing implements, and raising their own bread. When 
we were married we did not own anything; now we 



PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES. 237 

have two and one-half acres of land and a comfortable 
little house to live in." 

Mrs. George E. Rumsey, Thomas Run, Maryland.^ 
"The majority of the colored people at Thomas Run 
are property-holders, and are improving their lands 
considerably. My husband has a farm, and owns thirty- 
three acres of land. ' ' 

C. R. Creekmur, Deep Creek, Virginia. — ''I own a 
house and lot with four and one-half acres of land, 
farming utensils, etc. The people are poor and igno- 
rant. There are, however, signs of improvement. 
Several have purchased homes and they are working 
nicely in that direction. ' ' 

Mrs. Mary Owen, Warrentown, North Carolina. — 
"Large numbers of Negroes here own homes. Some 
have nice large houses, others have small but neat 
ones. They are, as a rule, making rapid progress." 

Mrs. Briscoe, Mecklenburg, North Carolina. — "The 
general condition of the Negro people is improving. 
There are many who do not take as much interest in 
bettering their condition as they should, but there are 
many who have made marked progress in business and 
intellectual matters. " 

E. D. Stewart, Farmville, Virginia. — "The condition 
of the colored peope is hopeful. They are accumulat- 
ing property and educating their children. ' ' 

J. B. Tynes, Smithville, Virginia. — "The colored 
people in the main are financially embarrassed, but 
here and there are signs of improvement." 

Mrs. Martin, Carlisle, Ohio. — "We own property 
valued at about three thousand dollars. I do not find 
the majority of the colored people so far advanced as I 
expected, considering the advantages they have had 
compared with the colored people of the South." 



238 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Frances L. Butt, Germantown, Pennsylvania. — 

"The colored people are improving financially, but the 
young girls are not doing well. Their standard is 
low. ' ' 

C. E. Vanharler. — "The people are slowly climbing 
the ladder of prosperity." 

Julia E. Coles, Halifax County, Virginia. — ' ' In some 
places the people are very well situated, owning a 

small tract of land with a good house on it. In 

they are in a worse condition than in any other place. 
The people are very poor, living in houses no better 
than sheds, and with the poorest kind of food. This 
is true of the whites as well as the colored, " 

J. W. Brown, Winchester, Virginia. — "The Negroes 
in this section are inaustrious and independent, and, 
although some spend the greater part of their hard 
earnings foolishly, they have money enough to secure 
for themselves comfortable homes, which the majority 
have. The homes differ with the ambition of the 
owner. Their cost ranges from one hundred dollars 
up into the thousands. Some own farms of from 
fifty to two hundred acres. The richest colored man 
in the county is said to be worth more than fifty thou- 
sand dollars. I do not think you will find a dozen beg- 
gars in our town, and the Negro population is over two 
thousand. ' ' 

Hope and Progress. — The best hope of the South is 
in the manufacture of her raw material. The best 
hope of the Negro is in his application to the various 
callings of industry. The future commercial greatness 
of the South depends upon the measure in which she 
manufactures her iron, wood, and cotton into articles 
of merchandise, and the happiness and well being of 
the Negro depend upon the part that he elects to play 



PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES. 239 

in this drama of industrial progress. Will he, by- 
careful training, fit himself as an artisan and thus con- 
tribute to his country's progress and to his own uplift- 
ing, or will he scorn the homely callings of industry 
and devote himself to college lore and starvation? 
The South will one day be the nation's workshop. 
Whence will come her workmen? In the solution of 
this problem is wrapped up the hope and progress of 
the Negro. 

Dignity and Nobility of Manual Labor. — When the 
colored citizen can demonstrate his usefulness as a 
member of society, his rise to a higher plane of liberty 
and independence is assured. Industrial training will 
help students to appreciate the dignity and nobility of 
manual labor; wdll make them self-reliant, competent 
to lay out work for others, to oversee the erection of a 
dwelling house, a school house, a meeting house ; will 
make them industrial leaders, and, in a modest way, 
capitalists, enabling them to own a house, a farm, 
working with the hands in the intervals of preaching 
or teaching ; and all this not for themselves alone — they 
should never lose sight of the idea of service, that he 
who would be first must become the servant of all. 

In the Business World. — If the Negro is to maintain 
his place in the business world as an industrial and 
commercial factor, it behooves him to put on his think- 
ing cap-; no force without will help him. He must rise, 
if he rises at all, through his own efforts. He is not 
wanted in many of the avenues of opportunity and will 
be shut out if he does not get to thinking for himself. 
The politician has no use for him excepting before elec- 
tion. If he would maintain his place, he must, of 
necessity, think for himself. 

Half Free.— Booker T. Washington, that wise leader 



PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES. 241 

of the colored race, never spoke more truly and pithily 
than when he said: "The black man who cannot let 
love and sympathy go out to the white man is but half 
free. The white man who would close the shop or 
factory against a black man seeking an opportunity to 
earn an honest living, is but half free. * * 

Negro Labor. — Although the Negro is practically 
barred from the great trade alliances of the land, and 
denied a place in the industrial army which he would 
so naturally and capably fill, the race is slowly edging 
into labor equalities and must, ere long, be counted a 
factor. The latest movement serving to bring Negro 
labor to a permanent stage of discussion is the intro- 
duction of black labor into the cotton mills of the South. 
Charleston Cotton Mills have recently introduced Negro 
labor with excellent results. The Negro hands are 
proving entirely satisfactory. It seems that colored 
operators were employed successfully in several mills 
before the war, but since then the Negro was denied 
an entrance. This will open a new field for the Negro. 
Besides this, all over the South colored men are being 
employed in mechanical pursuits, as carpenters, masons, 
wheelrights, engineers, while colored women are em- 
ployed as cooks, dressmakers, etc. This predicts a 
brighter day for the colored race, and if the race is true 
to its calling and exhibits true merit by rising and 
showing proficiency in all these lines, the day is not far 
distant when Negro labor in the South or in any other 

section of our country will be in as great demand as 

the labor of any other race. 
Fears Aroused. — The danger that is feared by some 

who have given any thought to the Charleston experi- 
ment is that the colored operators will succeed so well 
there that they will gradually supplant the white opera- 



242 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

tives in Southern mills, and that their success in Charles- 
ton will resuU in the establishment of many Negro cotton 
mills in the South by New England capitalists. We 
believe that the Charleston ''experiment" will succeed 
— we are told that it is succeeding; but we do not 
believe that its most substantial success will greatly 
interfere with the labor problem in the Southern mills. 
It probably would result in the establishment of many 
cotton mills in the black belt of the South, but it would 
not, for years, if ever, result in the displacement of 
white labor. 

They will work the kind of hands they can hire at the 
lowest wages and get good results. The agitation of 
the Negro-in-the- cotton-mill question began among the 
Southern mill managers. No Northern owned and con- 
ducted mill has been mentioned in connection with 
Negro help. 

Capable. — There is little reason to doubt that Negroes 
will prove capable of performing the work required of 
them in the cotton mills. With white superiors to 
direct they can easily perform the duties of mill hands 
in the manufacture of the coarser goods of cotton 
cloth. Negro slaves, it is alleged, were successfully 
employed in the cotton mills. 

Prospect. — What a field is presented for speculation 
as to the possibilities in this contrast! What if the 
success of the experiment should give such an impetus 
to the cotton mill industry in this city that soon not 
only the spindles of the old mill would be humming 
night and day under the inspiration of a happy, con- 
tented and economic labor, but other mills would start 
up, giving hope, ambition and employment to thousands 
more of our at present idle and non-productive surplus 
colored population, who are a burden upon the com- 



244 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

munity instead of a blessing ! Does it not follow, as the 
nig-ht the day, that more money would be put into cir- 
culation; more stores would be given patrons; more 
business men and clerks would be needed, as well as 
that increase of forces in every other of the depart- 
ments of life preferred by white men which necessarily 
follows an increase in the volume of business and of the 
productive population of the community? The prospect 
is a pleasing one. Let us hope that at last we have 
found the true philosopher's stone, that with its magic 
touch will bring about the renewed prosperity and 
business revival which we have so long hoped for in 
vain. 

A Business Education. — Rev. A. A. Whitman says: 
"We need to begin in a business way right at the bot- 
tom and grow up from the ground. We need to know 
how to make a living. That education which fails to 
fit one to do this fails to educate. -He who has not the 
business parts and qualifications in him to earn a living 
is a dependent — a pauper, as it were — and undesirable 
as a citizen, regardless of any amount of useless informa- 
tion that may be found lying around loose in his 
cranium. The Negro, the masses, must come back to 
the ground. Business is the root and the bottom of the 
education he needs now. The Negro must be found 
taking a helping part — lending a helping hand in the 
exercises and business of his day; thus making himself 
needed by the state. This is the root of the whole 
matter. " 

Tilling the Soil. — Man's independence grows up out 
of the soil. It is never a fungus. The Negro must be 
trained to know how to intelligently and successfully 
till the soil ; and, what is more, he must learn to love 
the occupation. He must know the farm, the orchard 



PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES. 



245 



and the vineyard. He must see that his farm is a duke- 
dom. He must find that stalwart independence comes 
up with his cotton and corn. The landscape, beauti- 
fied and ennobled by the touch of care and endeared by 
the fond and exalted idea of possession, must be to him 




PARKER MODEL HOME. 

Made by Tuskegee Students. 

the rallying point for his patriotism. Cincinnatus, 
Washington, Lincoln, Grant, mightiest of earth, digni- 
fied their lives by tilling the soil. The Negro must 
see this. 



246 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Way-Marks. — Pastures filled with horses and cattle; 
ample barns and great farm houses are grander way- 
marks for civilization than all the monuments ever 
reared on the fields of battle. Back to this idea the 
Negro must come and make a start. It must be taught 
into his brains to see this truth. 

Waiting for Something to Do. — The man who reads 
Greek and Latin while he sits in idleness waiting 
for something to do is an inferior man ; while he who 
tills the soil is a sovereign, though he knows little of 
books The Negro must not be afraid of the clouds ; he 
must come out of the shade. He must learn that there is 
more music in a hand saw than in a guitar, and a great 
deal better pay. He must feel that it is no disgrace to 
go to work after he has gone to school. He must 
understand that a liberal education is as valuable to 
him who tills the soil as it is to the professions. 

Skilled Mechanics. — Next to tilling the soil, the 
Negro must learn the value of being skilled in me- 
chanics. He must learn to mingle his thoughts with 
his labor. He must be taught to see that if he can 
chop wood and earn one dollar per day, he may, by 
using skw and chisel, earn twice that amount and work 
no harder than before ; and again by using steam and 
lathe and scroll he can earn ten times that amount and 
still work no harder. 

Practical Education. — This, we understand, is prac- 
tical education, to enlighten the citizen first concern- 
ing his nearest environments — earth, air, water, wood, 
stone, metal — first become acquainted with these and 
then come on with your theorems, your hypotheses, 
your abstractions and such. First the dinner pot and 
the loom, and then the beatitudes — poetry, painting 
and the like. 



PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES. 247 

Higher Education, — After a moral and industrial 
training- those who have the talent, the means, and the 
leisure, may pursue their studies into the province of 
higher education, language, literature, the arts and the 
sciences. All hold out brilliant inducements for such 
as strive to find "room at the top. " 

What the South Especially Needs is Negro farmers 
who study the best methods of tilling the soil, and are 
alert to find the most improved method and best imple- 
ments the market can supply. No profession is higher 
or more honorable than that of farming. A farmer 
supports the people. 

Go to the Farm. — As Horace Greeley advised young 
men to go west, so we would advise young people in 
cities and towns who cannot find anything to do, often 
compelled to beg or to steal in order to live, we would 
advise such to go to the farm, for there they can make 
an independent living for themselves. 

Buy a Farm. — By saving a little money a small farm 
at least, can be bought, and by cultivating it carefully 
more can be added from time to time. 

The European emigrants come to this country and 
settle on homestead lands and soon become inde- 
pendent. Why should not the Negro do the same if he 
is willing to lay aside extravagance and expensive 
habits and devote himself to industry, economy and 
frugality. There is no reason why the average Negro 
should not have a home of his own. Young men, aim 
to have a home of your own. 

Sound Advice. — A typical Louisa county, Va. , Negro 
tobacco raiser was asked very lately how he managed 
to beat all his neighbors making tobacco, as was evi- 
denced by his having always led them in prices on the 
market. Here is the secret in his vernacular: 

17 Progress 



248 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

*'What I does make, I makes de bes' de Ian' will 
fotch. I keeps puttin' back de manure on de same Ian'. 
I makes dat manure myself, en I don't spread out none 
like some folks does, who ain't never satisfied 'ceptin' 
dey allers plants more'n dey can ten' to. No matter 
how terbarker is sellin' I gits to de top price — it's alius 
$io to $12 roun'. Noc, sah, I ain't neber study in' 
'bout spreadin' out like some folks, 'case I dun seen um 
try dat, an' my four acres beats der'n all de time. Dey 
plant more'n double as much agin as me — an' more, 
too. In course I know how to make fine sun-cured 
terbaker, and I ain't trustin' dat to nobody else, nuther. 

"Nor, sah, I ain't nuver grumble 'bout de price yit — 
do I see plenty uv dem what duz, an' I ain't never 
spec' to crap more'n dem four acres — sometimes a little 
less dan dat. I ain't nuver hear nobody complain 
'bout my tei'baker yit — alius 'pear to suit dem what 
buys it, an' dey want more. Yas, I got 150 akers size 
dese four, but dese four is dat rich as when I fust 
started, and richer, too. ' ' 

We wish we could emphasize this good advice still 
more strongly. What the market wants is quality^ not 
qua7itity. This applies to everything that the farm pro- 
duces. The way to get the prices that are paying ones 
is to follow the old "darky's advice, to make the best 
the land will make, by heavy and appropriate fertiliza- 
tion, on only such an area of land as can be properly 
prepared and carefully and constantly attended to, 
and then to give the greatest attention to the crop, so 
as to make a type that the market calls for. You must 
please the market, and the market will then please you. 

Advancement. — Professor Glenn, state school com- 
missioner of Georgia, in an able address before the State 
Teachers' Association, at Macon, recently said, in 




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250 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Speaking of the advancement of the colored people in 
America, that in improvement along all lines, in the 
same length of time, they stood without a peer, either 
in or out of history. He spoke of how they had reduced 
their illiteracy more than forty per cent in thirty-two 
years, etc. He told how Georgia's colored citizens 
alone had made returns for $i 6, 000,000 worth of prop- 
erty, and, said he : "If they are as sharp about giving 
in property as the white man, and they may be, instead 
of owning $16,000,000, they really own in this state 
alone about $32,000,000 worth of property." What is 
true of Georgia is true of the colored people in all parts 
of the United States. 

Worth of Property. — The colored people in the 
United States own today more than $325,000,000 worth 
of property. They have about 27,000 school teachers, 
more than 1,000 lawyers, and nearly 2,000 physicians 
that have graduated from some of the best schools in 
this and other countries. They have 3,068,822 mem- 
bers of the church, scattered among the various denomi- 
nations, including the Catholic church. These are led 
by thousands of able and well-educated ministers, 
including about twenty or twenty-five bishops. About 
5,000,000 of the people can read. These, I think, are 
worthy achievements for the colored people during one 
generation, when we remember that they started empty- 
handed, empty-headed and with empty pockets. 

Looking Upward. — Of course we have had our trials, 
tribulations and hindrances, and our many drawbacks. 
These have come from all directions — from within as 
well as from without— but by God's help, and with the 
steady efforts of a few we find ourselves today far up 
the hill toward the city of success. 

A Changed Man. — The time was when, if you should 



PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES. 251 

meet a colored man on the streets, you could soon 
place him, so far as his business and intellectual 
capacity was concerned, without asking a single ques- 
tion. But that is by no means the case to-day. When 
you pass down the street to-day and meet a colored man, 
he may be a wealthy merchant, a retired business man 
with his thousands of dollars ; he may be a prosperous 
farmer owning his plantation, horses, mules and cattle ; 
he may be a banker, a bishop, an educated minister of 
the gospel, with all the degrees that belong to that 
high calling ; he may be principal of a city school, pro- 
fessor of Greek, Latin, Hebrew, German, French, 
mathematics, or science, in some college, or he may be 
president of some great university or president of a 
young republic in some part of the world ; he may be a 
lawyer, dentist, physician, pharmacist, or a telegraph 
operator ; he may be a man such as I have named here 
— a man that is both an honor and a help to his city, 
country and state. 

At Progressive Door. — This is the colored man that 
is standing at the progressive door of American civiliza- 
tion today and asks for a man's chance — for an Amer- 
ican citizen's chance in the race of life — this is the 
colored man that asks for, and should have, a first-class 
railroad ride for a first-class railroad ticket. I hope 
Christian civilization, right and justice will soon per- 
meate the hearts of all the American people to the 
extent that they may see the ten millions of colored 
American citizens as they really are today and not as 
they were a generation ago. 

Atlanta's Colored Representatives. — Dr. Butler 
says: "Atlanta has two oil dealers, one laundry, 
several good coal and wood yards, seven or eight 
tailoring establishments, one creamery, one real estate 

17 Progress. 



252 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

dealer, one insurance agent, four undertakers, one 
hotel, and restaurants and ice-cream saloons in- 
numerable. We have a large number of grocery 
stores, well stocked and well patronized. It is impos- 
sible for me to call to mind all of our contractors, 
blacksmiths, carpenters, brick - masons, and stone- 
masons. We have several owners of hack lines. We 
have a large number of railway mail clerks and letter- 
carriers. We have one clerk in a white jewelry store. 
He is well thought of by everybody and draws a large 
trade to that firm from his people. This is a good 
example for others to follow. We have one first-class 
artist who has been working for one white firm for 
more than fifteen years. We have one sewing-machine 
representative, one plumber who has passed the re- 
quired examination and received his license ; we have 
two cleaning and dyeing establishments ; we have five 
public schools, with forty teachers; we have six col- 
leges and seminaries, in which are many colored pro- 
fessors; we have four well-stocked and well-equipped 
drug stores, several pharmacists, seven physicians and 
two dentists. Besides, there are many dressmakers, 
milliners, slaters, tinners, and hundreds of other good 
professional businesses that I have not the time to 
mention. These are the accomplishment of a colored 
population of about forty thousand. I came near for- 
getting our three lawyers, who are doing a good prac- 
tice. We also have a Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tion in the city and one in each of our colleges; we 
have eight organizations of the Woman's Christian 
Temperance Union, all doing much good work. We 
also have the Atlanta Woman's Club, of colored women, 
one of the best and most active of its kind in the 
country. We have the United Friendly Society, an 



254 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

organization that is doing much good work among our 
people, and our women have an industrial club which 
is turning in an excellent profit to its members. This 
is only a bird's-eye view of what our people are doing. 
In conclusion, I would say, that Atlanta is the home of 
the following newspapers: The Southern Age, The 
Voice of Mission, The Gospel Trumpet, The Southern 
Christian Recorder, The Social Gleaner, and The Paris 
Visitor. I refer to these things to show our friends 
that we are up and doing for ourselves, our children, 
and our country. 

'Forest Home' is the name of D. T. Howard's 
country home, eight miles from Atlanta, on the Peach- 
tree road. It is indeed a beautiful place, with groves, 
lakes, and fruit trees of all kinds. There are five 
springs on the property, and one of them is very val- 
uable. The lakes have been stocked with fish. He has 
ordered 5,000 more fish from Washington, D. C., to 
place in his lakes. He also has a number of fine Jersey 
cattle and many fine fowls out there. D. T. Howard 
has quite an interesting family, and all of them take 
a special interest in their country home. This is what 
I have often advised my people to do — get homes in the 
country and raise country produce and furnish this and 
other markets. The money we spend for a small 
25x100 foot lot here in the city, or any city, for that mat- 
ter, would buy from ten to fifty acres of good land in the 
country. Talking about gold and silver, there is plenty 
of it out in the country, under the soil — all we have to do 
is to dig for it. It is there for the truck farmer ; it is 
there for the florist ; and it is there for the scientific 
farmer; and our people can do all of these things if 
they will only apply themselves. ' ' 

Items of Interest. — The city government of Phila- 



PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES. 255 

delphia employs nearly i,ooo colored men. In the 
bureau of health is David Brown, the oldest employe 
in the service of the city. He was appointed in 1837, 
and has held the position ever since. These men 
receive salaries ranging from $800 to ^1,000 and more. 
There are sixty-one in the police department, one in 
the fire department, and several clerks, among whom 
is James F. Needham, a clerk in the tax office. He has 
held the position twenty-five years at a salary of $1,500. 
The inspector of gas meters is a colored man. C. J. 
Perry, the colored councilman, is a clerk in the sheriff's 
office. He is also editor of the Philadelphia Tribune. 
This is another proof of how the colored people are 
laboring for the welfare of their country and for the 
honor of themselves, by faithfully discharging every 
duty placed upon them. 

The largest silkworm grov/er in the South is a col- 
ored man, S. R. Lowry, near Huntsville, Ala. He 
took a premium at the New Orleans exposition over 
several foreign competitors from China, France, Japan 
and Italy. Mr. Lowry is of the opinion that the cul- 
ture of silk in the South will supersede that of cotton. 

Wiley Jones, of Pine Bluff, Arkansas. , is one of the 
wealthiest colored men in his state, and is said to be 
the largest blooded-stock breeder of his race. Besides 
his herds of Durham and Holstein cattle, he has a stable 
of trotting horses valued at $50,000. 

Granville T. Woods, the electrician, mechanical 
engineer, manufacturer of telephone, telegraph and 
electrical instruments, was once a day laborer in Spring- 
field, 111. 

There are more than fifty Negro establishments in 
Atlanta, Ga. , representing $100,000 invested in busi- 
ness, giving employment to not less than one hun- 



256 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

dred persons of the race, and affording them an oppor- 
tunity to acquire a thorough knowledge of business. 

iMr. John W, Wilson is the leading colored clothier of 
Baltimore, Maryland. He has a good trade, and keeps 
on hand a full supply of the latest goods. 

Mr. Madison Short is one of the most prominent 
farmers of Surry county, Virginia. He owns a beauti- 
ful farm and has some of the finest horses in the state. 

There are over 2,000 colored people employed in the 
executive departments of the government at Washing- 
ton. 

The increase of colored population in the last decade 
is greater in Arkansas than that of any other state. 

Thirty-five Afro-Americans are employed on the 
police force in Pittsburg, Pa. 

Mrs. Alpha V. Miner, of Kansas City, Missouri, has 
the reputation of being one of the most successful busi- 
ness women of her race in the west. She is quoted at 
$10,000 and free from debt. She commenced business 
several years ago as a dressmaker. She now has a 
dozen or more employes. 

Gilchrist Stewart, the great colored creamery man, 
and dairy scientist of Wisconsin, has just been chosen 
dairy editor of the Dakota Field and Farm, and 
elected one of the editorial contributors for the coming 
year of the Wisconsin "Agriculturist," one of the lead- 
ing agricultural papers in the country. Mr. Stewart 
is a graduate of Tuskegee and of the Wisconsin Dairy 
school. He is rapidly achieving fame and prominence 
in the agricultural and daily worlds. He is yet a very 
young man and the son of T. McCants Stewart of 
New York. 

H. D. Smith is the wealthiest colored man of Greens- 
ville county, Virginia. He owns a valuable farm. 



PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES. 257 

At one time he represented his people in the state leg- 
islature. 

Mr. D. Rowen, a merchant of Texas, after having 
passed through varied scenes and hardships, finds him- 
self a prosperous merchant of Dallas. He paid taxes 
on real estate in 1896 valued at $41,000. Mr. Rowen 
has shown what can be done by a poor boy who is 
determined to let the world know that he is living in it. 

A colored planter now owns one of Jefferson Davis' 
old plantations in Mississippi. 

John T. Schell, one of Atlanta's progressive and 
assiduous business men, has met with success by facing 
adversity. Through poverty he has pushed his way, 
working [wherever he was able to find employment. 
Upon reaching Atlanta he could find no work, but at 
last succeeded in obtaining employment that hardly 
paid his expenses, but, continuing this work, he was 
soon offered a better position. At last he succeeded in 
gathering enough cash to open a small grocery store, 
with shoe shop attached. From this time forth success 
seemed to attend him, until he is to-day one of the 
wealthiest citizens of that city. A cultured and 
amiable wife presides over his comfortable and beauti- 
ful home, in which four happy children mingle their 
glad voices. Besides a vast amount of real estate, he 
owns a well-stocked dry-goods establishment. His 
residence is, beyond doubt, the largest and handsomest 
and most complete residence of any colored man in 
the state. Such houses as these are the monuments 
the thoughtful men and women of the race are erecting 
for their children. They are accumulating property 
and improving themselves along all lines. 

W. H. Councill was born in Fayetteville, N. C, in 
1848. When nine years old he was carried by slave- 



258 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



traders to Alabama, where he worked in the cotton 
fields until set free as a result of the Civil war. He 
attended one of the first schools opened by Northern 
teachers at Stevenson, Ala., in 1865. 




PROF. W. H. COUNCILL, PH. D. 

He was founder, and editor of the Himtsville Herald 
from 1877 to 1884. He is now president of the Agri- 
cultural and Mechanical College, Normal, Ala., which 
he organized a quarter of a century ago. 

He is an active church-worker and a temperance 
advocate. 



PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES. 



259 



At his Normal school he is educating native Africans 
as missionaries to the "Dark Continent." 

C. H. Jackson is a very successful grocery and dry 
goods merchant in Nashville, Tennessee. 

Hon. Henry A. Rucker has been appointed collector of 
» internal revenue for the state of Georgia. Mr. Rucker 




HON. H. A. RUCKER, ATLANTA, GEORGIA. 



is comparatively a young man, and his appointment 
gives the greatest satisfaction to his friends. He is 
one of the ablest men in the state and has the full con- 
fidence of all who know him. He has had considerable 



260 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

experience as a revenue official and will make a most 
efficient collector. 

Henry Allan Rncker was born in Washington, Wilkes 
county, Georgia, November 14, 1852. Three months 
after his birth his parents moved to Kensington, 
Georgia, residing there for five or six years, and from 
there to Atlanta, Savannah, Macon, and back to Atlanta 
in 1866, where he has ever since lived. Soon after 
returning to Atlanta he entered a school which was 
opened in the A. M. E. Church on Jenkins street by 
Northern teachers. This school was afterwards moved 
to a car box near what was then the famous Walton 
springs, and again into the building on Houston street, 
which, ever since its establishment, has been known as 
Storrs' school. On account of the inability of his 
parents to maintain him in a day school, he had to seek 
employment and attend school by night, and finally 
was compelled to lay aside his books, which he had no 
opportunity of taking up again, until, by steady appli- 
cation to whatever he could get to do, and by strict 
frugality, he was again able to take them up in Atlanta 
University in 1876. By teaching country schools dur- 
ing the summer months and by economizing, he kept 
himself in this school until 1880, leaving off after finish- 
ing his sophomore year to take up the study of homeop- 
athy, which he pursued for one year. During this year 
he also entered national politics and made a successful 
race as a Blaine delegate to the national convention 
which met in Chicago, Illinois, in 188 1. He was given an 
appointment as storekeeper and ganger in the Internal 
Revenue Service in Georgia. In 1883 he was promoted 
to a clerkship in the office of the collector, where he 
remained until shortly after the inauguration of Prise- 
dent Cleveland, when a new collector was appointed. 



PROGKESS IN INDUSTRIES. 261 

This Democratic collector, on assuming charge of the 
office, asked Mr. Rucker, "How long have you been in 
the service?" On being told about fotir years, he 
simply said, "You have been in long enough." Four 
years later, on the inauguration of President Harrison, 
Mr. Rticker appeared before Secretary Windom, and, 
in his speech urging a change in the Collector's office 
of Georgia, repeated this little circumstance and wound 
up by saying, "Now, Mr. Secretary, this Democratic 
collector has been in a little over four years, and I, 
with other Republicans of Georgia, believe he has been 
in long enough to be removed without delay. ' ' At this 
the Secretary smiled and said: "While this is not 
poetic language, it is politic, and I'll see that the 
change is made." In 1880, Mr. Rucker met Major 
McKinley at Salt Springs, Georgia, where, while shak- 
ing hands with the major after his Chautauqua address, 
he said, "Major, I hope I may have the pleasure of shak- 
ing your hand when you are president of the United 
States." In 1890, in September, large mass meetings 
of a non-partisan character were being held in Atlanta 
to nominate a reform city ticket, as municipal officers 
were getting in a confused condition and taxation was 
exorbitant and the city's credit was suffering. These 
mass meetings resulted in a city convention, where 
Mr. Rucker made the platform the reduction of taxa- 
tion from one and one-half per cent to one and one- 
third per cent, and since that time this measure of 
reduced taxation has become a law and the burdens of 
the people relieved and the city's credit raised. Dur- 
ing the same year Mr. Rucker was called back to an 
important position in the Internal Revenue Service, 
discharging his duties honorably until he was again 
released in consequence of the fortunes of politics by 



262 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

another Democratic collector. In 1895, Mr. Rucker 
again met Major McKinley in Atlanta. The Major 
was holding- a reception at the time, and as one man 
after another was introduced to the Major, one of them 
holding his hand, inquired, "Are you Governor McKin- 
ley of Ohio?" and on being modestly informed that he 
was said, "Well, Governor, you want to be president, 
and I want to tell you that Georgia is against you." 
Mr. Rucker, who was standing on the right of the Gov- 
ernor, spoke up at once and said, "Governor, pay no 
attention to that fellow, you shall have Georgia." 
He was himself elected one of the delegates to the St. 
Louis convention, and introduced a resolution condemn- 
ing lynching and mob violence, which became a plank 
in the Republican platform upon which President 
McKinley was elected. After the inauguration of 
President McKinley, Mr. Rucker was appointed Col- 
lector of Internal Revenue for the District of Georgia, 
and on the eve of the 5th day of August, 1897, had the 
pleasure of succeeding the man who, four years before, 
had relieved him from clerkship in the same office. 

In 1889, Mr. Rucker was joined in marriage to Miss 
Annie, the younger daughter of Hon. Jefferson Long, 
the only colored man to represent a Georgia district in 
the United States Congress. To them four children 
have been born. Mr. Rucker is sober, honest and 
intelligent, enjoying the respect and confidence of the 
best people among whom he lives, as well as that of 
many of the leading men of the country. When asked 
to what he attributed his success, he emphatically says : 
"To the faithful, patient training and earnest prayers 
of a devout Christian mother. ' ' 

The following is taken from the Atlanta Constitution, 
and may suggest to some yoimg men the advantage to 



PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES. 263 

be gained in not hurrying from the country to the city. 
What these men have done can be done again by others, 
if industry, economy and good management are not 
wanting. 

Bartow F. Powell was born a Negro in Bainbridge, 
Georgia, under all the weight which must ever depress 
a black race living in the midst of a dominant and all- 
conquering white. Worse than that, there was added 
to the natural disqualification of skin the stigma of 
recent slavery, with the jealousy, as yet unabated, of 
those who have been deprived of their ownership. 
A more unpropitious beginning is beyond conception, 
and, before the record which this man has achieved, is 
there a man in Georgia who will idly fold his hands 
and say that there is no room for him in the band 
wagon of progress? 

*'Born in Bainbridge thirty-two years ago, Bartow F. 
Powell ran the gauntlet through which all the boys of 
his race have to go, but he had one quality not com- 
mon to all — and that was that a dime once reaching his 
pocket stayed there. This qualification and the thorough- 
ness of his service secured for him constant employ- 
ment. Drifting from stores about town into the gov- 
ernment service in the dredge boats clearing out the 
Flint river, his resources increased, and with the inter- 
est savings on money already acquired, he found him- 
self at the age of twenty the owner of $2,000, $100 for 
each year of his life. That, as stated, was twelve years 
ago, and the event was celebrated by a trip to Albany, 
where a white landowner was committing the usual 
mistake of parting with five hundred acres of Baker 
county pine land. The white man got the $2,000, 
which has most likely taken wings long ago, whilst the 
Negro got the five hundred acres, which are to-day 
worth three times the money. 

18 Progress 




BARTOW V. POWELL. 



264 



PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES. 2C5 



i( i 



I hired ten men,' describing his first year's work, 
'for the year round, paying them $8 a month and 
board, and put eight mules to work. It was during 
Christmas week that I bought the land, so I started in 
with my force on the first day of January, because they 
say whatever you do that day you will do the year 
round. It proved to be so in my case, for it was not 
until the Christmas week of the next year that I saw a 
day off. We started clearing and tearing up in Janu- 
ary, and reached planting by March, which took up two 
months. We then cultivated the crop regularly till 
August I St, after which, gathering and ginning and 
marketing took up our time. 

*' 'When I had sold my cotton, corn and sugar cane I 
had $2,500. Besides that I had raised hogs and made 
provender, potatoes and peas sufficient to offset the run- 
ning expenses of the farm. I found that the best way 
to succeed is to hire men by the month, paying them 
regular wages, and planning ahead for the work that 
they must do the year round. You can command their 
work better. 

** *Well, I just kept on the next three years, not 
doing so well the second year. The fifth year I bought 
a second farm of three hundred acres in the oaky 
woods, for which I paid $3^000 cash, and the next year 
I added a five hundred and sixty acre place in the ninth 
district of Baker for $2,500 cash. I ran along two years 
more this way, when I had some more money to spare, 
when I took in another oaky woods farm of four hundred 
and forty acres for $3,200 cash. My land, for which I 
gave $10 an acre, has paid me fully twenty per cent, in 
cotton returns, not to speak of my gains from other 
sources. While I have been saving all this money and 
iDu^nng land, I have freely stocked all my places out of 



266 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

the proceeds which I do not count. I have now 2,100 
acres of land, a town house and lot, forty-four head of 
horses and mules, one hundred Jersey and scrub cows, 
one hundred and fifty head of improved hogs, besides 
wagons, buggies, plows and all kinds of machines used 
on a big farm. I now run a public gin on my home 
place, as well as a grist mill. 

" 'If I were to sell my land I could not make as good 
use of the money as I can of my land. You see you 
are always getting principal as well as interest back 
from your land, and after you get it all back the land 
still remains more valuble than it was at first. In 
money you can only get the interest, and principal is 
always likely to disappear. Every other kind of prop- 
erty wears away, but constant use imjDroves land. 
There is no such thing as wearing out land — it must be 
kept at work, but rested by different crops. It is like 
resting from walking by running a little, but never sit 
down, because if you do you are sure to be left 
behind. ' ' ' 

Mr. Powell generally sells his cotton at the beginning 
of the market season. Concerning the raising of cot- 
ton, Mr. Powell says: 

"There's money in cotton all the time, said Powell, 
only don't be paying this money for other things yovi 
can raise at home. Five cents jDays well and seven 
cents is bushels. I can always make the difference good 
by living at home. ' ' 

Powell is not the only man of his race who has made 
what is called "big" money. As he is a mulatto, inher- 
iting, as will be seen from his picture, the phrenologi- 
cal cast of the Caucasian, it may be argued that his 
success springs from that strain. 

Mr. Billingslea.is as black and full-blooded a Negrq 



PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES. 267 

as ever disported himself in the jtingles of Africa, with 
a greasy coal face, great lips, which, when parted, dis- 
play almost wealth enough of ivory for an elephant. 
He has come right out of slavery itself, and is now the 
owner of two thousand acres of land, from which he 
markets four hundred bales of cotton annually. Besides 
his success on the farm, he has developed the country 
supply store idea, and thus rakes in thousands of dol- 
lars a year. 

Deal Jackson is another typical "before the war" 
Negro, who owns six hundred acres of land worth 
$10,000, and who has money to loan at all times. 

Joe Jeffis, still another full-blooded African, living 
on the east side of the river, owns 1,500 acres of 
superb land, out of which he makes equally good returns 
with those already mentioned. 

No white man should be afraid to do as well as these 
men have done, and here is their greatest possibility; 
the ownership of property makes good citizens of" the 
Negroes. The influence of these men is great with 
members of their race. 

And they, in turn, help to preserve the good rela- 
tionship between the races, which has removed all the 
rancor of former times. We always work together and 
for the common good. You can go to these men at any 
time and make suggestions as to proper lines upon 
which to work, and they have the good sense to comply, 
so" that racial troubles never occur. Whenever you 
hear of such trouble it is between a no-account white 
man and a mean Negro, and we are then just as certain 
to get rid of the one as the other. These men com- 
mand the highest credit in our banks and commercial 
houses. 

Altogether these incidents furnish one of the best 



268 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

lessons as to the possibilities of the South, and now we 
are talking, not in the interest of Northern immigrants, 
but of our own Southern boys. Go to the commercial 
college in our big cities ; go to the stenographic schools ; 
go to the dry goods and other business houses, and see 
the hundreds and thousands of bright young men 
stunting their youth in the fever of exertion for callings 
which will not bring them a livelihood in their maturi- 
ty, but out of which they will be crowded by a fresh 
influx of boys. While these young men have turned 
their backs upon the old homes, their patrimony is 
being taken possession of by strangers, who are making 
the waste spots bloom in luxuriance. In the days to 
come, when these young men will have grown older, 
they will seek a season's vacation, called up by a bub- 
bling of the old home feeling, and going there the very 
face of nature will have changed, but the greatest 
change, the one most cutting and heart-rending, will 
be to see the face of the stranger peering out of the old 
window, and the hand of the stranger holding, not ajar, 
but firmly closed, the gate which once led to home, 
with its smiles and tears which are now recalled through 
the vista of time and adversity. 

Look upon these broad and smiling acres, young 
men of the South. There is more wealth concealed 
beneath their carpeted green than all the eldorados 
ever afforded; there is more joy and comfort cluster- 
ing around that old house; there is more of heart in 
the handclasp, the more of Heaven in the prospect than 
ever city, with its promises fulfilled, has been able to 
give you. 

Go to the country, young man, go ! 

Cotton States, Industrial Exposition, 1895. — The 
Negro building of this exposition was erected by Negro 



PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIES. 269 

hands and supervised by Negro skill and brain. Mtich 
of the success which was realized is due to the chief 
commissioner, Professor Crogman, who traveled 
throuofhotit the Southern states in the interest of the 
Negro building. Those who are able to judg6 assure 
US that this exhibit was by far the best yet made by the 
Negro race. The educational, business and industrial 
development of the race during thirty years of emanci- 
pation was shown here in practical form. It was in all 
respects a success. 

The commissioner of education says of the exhibit: 
*' The very creditable exhibit made at the Atlanta expo- 
sitition in 1895 by the more progressive element among 
the Negroes aroused new interest in all parts of the 
country in their educational advancement." There 
arose a very general demand for information on the 
subject, and this resulted in a special effort on the part 
of the Educational Bureau to furnish more extended 
information and statistics than ever before given. 
Thus the Atlanta Negro exhibit was an occasion for bet- 
ter information on the subject. The commissioners who 
labored so faithfully to make that exhibit a success, it 
is safe to say, had hardly hoped to make their influence 
and work felt throughout the nation, and yet this 
was the case. 

The Negro Exhibit at Nashville, 1897.— The one 
htindredth anniversary of Tennessee as a state was cele- 
brated by the Centennial exposition at Nashville^ from 
the first day of May until the last day of October, 1897. 
This occasioned for the Negro in particular an oppor- 
tunity to demonstrate to the world his capabilities in 
everything that appertains to development of the 
mental, moral and physical powers. To the Negro this 
opportunity meant a reward of patient industry and 



270 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

honesty. The Centennial exposition in general was a 
great credit to the state. The Negro building in par- 
ticular attracted the attention of visitors. The people 
of Tennessee generously erected, at a cost of twelve 
thousand dollars, a handsome and imposing building, 
known as the "Negro building." It was three hundred 
feet long by one hundred feet wide, and the architec- 
tural plans were not surpassed by any other building on 
the grounds. All the lines of progress were here 
noted, but, as it is along educational lines that the 
Negro race has made its greatest progress, the exhibit 
of schools devoted to Negro education necessarily 
occupied much space. Although the time since emanci- 
pation has been only a little more than that devoted to 
the eduation of a single generation, the race has made 
considerable progress in the arts, sciences, trades and 
professions, commerce, agriculture, and all other call- 
ings of the world, as a people, making creditable show- 
ings in^these lines. The display of talent in art by the 
Negro surprised and delighted the visitors to the 
Atlanta exposition. At Nashville, this department sur- 
passed every other exhibit of the work of Negro artists 
yet given. Miss E. Lewis, a talented young lady of 
Tennessee, who is now studying in Europe, forwarded 
some of her best paintings to the exposition. Mr. 
Tanner, whose work recently received favorable atten- 
tion at Paris, also sent some of his pictures. Portraits 
of famous men and women adorned the walls. On the 
whole, the Negro building at the Tennessee exposition 
was a decided success, and the works therein contained 
have proved that the Negroes, as a race, have made 
more progress in civilization since their emancipation 
than any other race similarly situated has in the same 
length of time. 



CHAPTER X. 



FINANCIAL GROWTH. 



Property Owners. — It is said that the colored popu- 
lation of Georgia pay taxes on about $40,000,000 worth 
of property ; the amount of mortgage on lands is not 
stated, but even if it should be one-half the value of 
the real estate the result would be the possession by 
these people of $20,000,000 worth of land, accumulated 
since the war. It is probable from the estimates that 
the Negro of the South owns, free of incumbrances, 
from $250,000,000 to $300,000,000 worth of real estate. 
Is not this result really unprecedented in the history 
of our civilization? 

The Negro of the South pays taxes on over $300,000,- 
000 worth of real and personal property, indicating that 
the true value of the race holdings in 1890 was not less 
than $650,000,000. Practically, every dollar of this has 
been accumulated in the last thirty years, about the 
period of a single generation of our colored race ; and 
it shows, as nothing else can show, that the spirit of 
thrift and enterprise is being acquired by the Negro, 
from his white neighbors. 

The race has in its possession, certainly, a sound 
and strong basis of means for displaying its progress, 
objectively, to the high credit of the colored people and 
greatly to their benefit. 

Wealthy Men; Examples. — Among the property 
owners of Jackson ward, Richmond, Va. , the following 
are the most prominent: Mrs. Bettie T. Lewis, $150,- 
000; Mrs. Fannie C. Thompson, $15,000; W. I. John- 
son, $13,000; A. Hayes, $12,000; William Lyons, 

271 



272 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



10,000; John Oliver, $10,000; Dr. S. H. Dismond, 

,000; J. B. Harris, $7,000; William Tennant, $7,000; 
W. H. White, $7,000; Rev. W. W. Browne, $6,000; Rev. 
J. E.Jones, $5,000; B. F. Turner, $5,000; Dr. R. E. 
Jones, $5,000; S. W. Robinson, $5,000. 

Many other colored men of wealth in Richmond 
deserve to be mentioned in this connection, but time 
and space forbid. The above are only examples of 
what can be done by the industrious, economical col- 
ored men in every city. 

Much Property is owned by the colored people of 
the North and West. Some of their estates run high 
into the hundred thousands. Many of them, though 
shut out almost entirely from the trades and business 
avenues, have accumulated handsome homes, and live 
in elegance and refinement. 

Rev. A. G. Davis, of Raleigh, North Carolina, in an 
address at the North Carolina Colored Agricultural 
Fair, in reference to the Negro's progress, says that 
among other things: "Scan, if you will, the long line 
of eight million Negroes as they march slowly but 
surely up the road of progress, and you will find in 
their ranks such men as Granville T. Woods, of Ohio, 
the electrician, mechanical engineer, manufacturer of 
telephones, telegraph and electrical instruments; 
William Still, of Philadelphia, the coal dealer; Henry 
Tanner, the artist; John W. Tarry, foreman of the 
iron and fitting department of the Chicago West 
Division Street Car Company; J. D. Baltimore, engi- 
neer, machinist and inventor, of Washington, D. C. ; 
Wiley Jones, of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, the owner of the 
street railroad and park; Richard M. Hancock, fore- 
man of the pattern shops of the Eagle Works and Manu- 
facturing Company, and draughtsman; John Black, 



FINANCIAL GROWTH, 273 

the inventor, whose inventions are worth tens or thou- 
sands ; W. C. Atwood, the lumber merchant and capi- 
talist. " To this we might add the following- list of 
names of a few wealthy colored people in the United 
States, as given by Prof. E. A. Johnson, of Raleigh : 

Amanda Eubanks, of Georgia $400,000 

Mrs. M. Carpenter, San Francisco 300,000 

John McKee, Philadelphia 300,000 

W. Q. Atwood, Baltimore 300,000 

Fred Douglass Estate, Washington, D. C 300,000 

William Still, Philadelphia 200,000 

Robert Purvis, Washington, D. C 150,000 

Mr. Smith, New York 150,000 

Ex. Gov. P. S. B. Pinchback, Louisiana 150,000 

John Thomas, Baltimore 1 50 000 

Mr. D. C. White, New York 130,000 

The Morrisettes of South Carolina 130,000 

Mrs. Mars, New York 100,000 

Mr. W. C. Coleman, Nortli Carolina 100,000 

Bowers Estate, Philadelphia 80,000 

Mr. Avery Smith, Florida 80,000 

Mr. J. H. Lewis, of Boston, formerly of North Carolina. . 70,000 

Bishop Beebe, North Carolina 50,000 

Several in Alabama 50,000 

Fifty in North Carolina 10,000 

Fifty in Georgia 10,000 

One hundred in Louisiana 10,000 

Twelve in Mississippi 10,000 

Sixty in Texas 10,000 

Fifty in Virginia 10,000 

Wealthy Colored New York Men. — There are many 
wealthy colored men who live in New York City. 
Several who were formerly slaves count their money 
by the hundred thousand. Four or five physicians in 
this great metropolis have a practice of many 
thousand dollars a year. 

Mortgaged Property. — One of the notable showings 
of the last census is the low percentage of mortgaged 



274 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

property in the South. In Georgia this percentage 
is 3.18; in Tennessee, 3.87; in Florida, 3.63; in Ala- 
bama, 3.98, and in Loiiisana, 3.94. The census of 1890 
also gives another evidence, that is more direct, of the 
improved condition of the Negroes in the South. In 
1890 there were 12,690,152 homes and farms in the 
United States, and of this number 1,186,174 are occu- 
pied by pure blacks and 224,595 by Mulattoes. Of 
the Negroes, 207,616 own their own homes or farms, 
and 978,558 rent them. Of the Mulattoes, 56,662 own 
and 167,923 rent. The percentage of mortgaged prop- 
erty owned by Negroes is only 10.71, while the 
percentage of mortgaged property for the whole 
country is 38.97. Of the property held by Negroes, 
88.58 per cent is owned without encumbrance. In the 
North Atlantic states there are 5,808 homes and farms 
owned by Negroes free from mortgage, and 3,921 that 
are mortgaged ; in the North Central states there are 
20,060 homes and farms owned by Negroes free from 
incumbrance, and 9,691 that are mortgaged; in the 
South Central states there are 100,591 homes and farms 
owned by Negroes free from incumbrances, and 7,608 
that are mortgaged ; in the Western states there are 
1,204 farms and homes owned free by Negroes, and 
289 that are mortgaged. In the whole country there 
are 234,747 homes. and farms owned by Negroes free 
from all incumbrance, and 29,541 mortgaged. In the 
South the percentage of home owners is larger than in 
the North, and the proportion of these owners on 
farms of their own is larger than that of those who 
have homes in cities and villages. With the white 
race the condition is just the opposite, the large per- 
centage of owners having homes in cities and villages 
rather than farms. 



FINANCIAL GROWTH. 275 

Twenty-five Years* Accumulations. — Alabama, 

,200,125; Arkansas, $8,010,315 ; Florida, $7,900,400; 
Georgia, $10,415,330; Kentucky, $5,900,010; Louis- 
iana, $18,100,528; Mississippi, $13,400,213; Missouri, 
$6,600,343; North Carolina, $11,010,652; South Caro- 
lina, $12,500,000; Texas, 5518,010,545; Tennessee, 
10,400,211; Virginia, $4,900,000. 

The Colored Churches in the United States own 
16,310,441; the total amount of property owned by 
the colored people in all the states is rated at over 
$263,000,000. 

Jacob McKinley. — Jacob McKinley, of Atlanta, Ga., 
was a man of worth and character. He was a man of 
perhaps more than thirty years when Sherman cap- 
tured Atlanta and marched to the sea. 

With many others of his race he came to Atlanta at 
that time, having neither education nor money; but 
he did have an enviable reputation as a Christian and 
an honest man, and also had a good trade as a stone 
mason. 

With this capital he set to work to help rear Atlanta 
from the heap of ashes in which he found her to the 
great and prosperous city of more than a hundred 
thousand inhabitants of today. 

In this work he made both friends and money, and 
when he passed from labor to reward in 1896 his 
friends were found among both races and all classes of 
men. 

At his death his estate was valued at $40,000, all of 
which he left to his wife and children, except a lot on 
which he had erected a Baptist church, known as 
" McKinley 's Chapel. " This he gave to his race and 
left it as a monument to his name. 

Robert Thomas Taylor was born a slave in Georgia. 



276 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

He has shown what determined will and energy- 
might reveal to many others. Soon after he was freed, 
he, with his wife and five children, moved to Texas, 
and in a few years, through industry and economy, 
was the owner of loo acres of land. Mr. and Mrs. 
Taylor are honored more for what they have made of 
their sons than for what they are themselves. One of 
them, after taking a course in a college, is principal of 
a school in Texas ; a second is pastor of a Baptist church 
in Corsicanna, Texas, one of the largest Baptist 
churches in the state. The third has completed a 
course in the Meharry Medical College, and is' now a 
practicing physician in a city in Texas. The fourth, 
who has completed a course in Shaw University, 
Raleigh, North Carolina, is teaching in Texas. Mr. 
Taylor may well be proud of the success of his sons. 
He has, since freedom, learned to write and transact 
his own business. He has accumulated property to the 
amount of about $6, ooo, besides having paid out about 
$4, ooo for the education of his sons. 

Lewis Bates is probably the wealthiest colored man 
in Chicago, being rated at nearly $500,000. He is 
entirely uneducated, dresses poorly, and lives like a 
poor man. He was born a slave nearly seventy years 
ago. In 1 86 1 he reached Chicago by the "Under- 
ground Railroad," and began working in a foundry. 
He soon became an expressman, and at once began in- 
vesting his savings in real estate. In this he has shown 
excellent judgment, and nearly all his investments are 
gilt-edged. Though he spends little money on him- 
self, he is open hearted and kind. He has no family, 
and his only heirs are a few very distant relatives. 

Encouraged. — Dr. Butler says: "Our people should 
feel greatly encouraged when they learn that in 1894 



FINANCIAL GROWiH. 277 

their aggregate wealth, including church property, was 
estimated at more than $325,000,000. At that time 
there were many thousand men and women of the 
race with fortunes ranging from $5,000 to $1,000,000. 
Besides, they have many lawyers, preachers, teachers, 
bishops, business men and women, and more than one 
thousand physcians. They also have authors of poetry 
and music, and over three hundred newspapers and 
magazines. All this has been accomplished in one 
generation. While it is a wonderful stretch, yet, if 
we had started right, we might have been much fur- 
ther on the road of success. Therefore, I say, every 
member of the race, old and young, great and small, 
poor and rich, learned and unlearned, let us start out 
with the year of 1898 to do all in our power to better 
our condition — morally, mentally, spiritually, and 
financially. Let us acquire intellect, morals and 
wealth, and in the meantime, let us not fail to lay up 
for ourselves treasures in the kingdom of God. ' ' 

The Negro in Politics. — While the emancipation 
brought many blessings to the colored people of the 
United States, it also brought with it many disappoint- 
ments. When the chains of slavery were broken many 
colored people pictured to themselves a life of ease 
and pleasure, as they had seen their masters living, 
but instead they met stern responsibilities which com- 
pelled them to provide foi themselves. It became 
necessary for the race to learn, through the struggles 
and persecutions, through want and poverty, how to 
provide for themselves and become independent citi- 
zens. 

Greed for Office. — Of course, there were a number 
who expected to be promoted to offices at once. While 
there were some of the colored race who held public 



278 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

positions and acquitted themselves nobly, yet, this 
greed for office has been detrimental to the advance- 
ment of the Negro in general. It is the general 
opinion that the Negro, in many cases, has had too 
much to do with politics. The greed for office has 
often occasioned distrust and dread in the minds of 
the whites, and thus the whole cause has been hindered. 
Politics Should Follow. — Carl Schurz very aptly 
says: "The wiser heads among the colored people 
themselves can hardly fail to see that their political 
preferment must not precede but follow their advance- 
ment in the other walks of life. A goodly number of 
Negroes achieving distinction as lawyers, or as phy- 
sicians, or as ministers, or as educators, or as business 
men, will, by the impression produced upon public opin- 
ion, effect far more for the political advancement of 
their race than ever so many Negro politicians getting 
themselves elected to Congress or appointed to other 
offices, and infinitely more than the horde of colored 
place hunters who besiege party committees for "influ- 
ence" or appointing officers for favors in the name of 
the colored vote, and who thus intensify the repulsive- 
ness of one of the most baneful features of our political 
life. In this respect nothing more helpful can happen 
to the colored people than that all the government 
employments be put under civil service rules, so that 
every colored citizen who gets an appointment be 
known to have obtained it on account of his own indi- 
vidual merit, in free competition on an equal footing 
with other citizens, white or black, and that he is, 
therefore, fairly and honorably entitled to it. Places 
so won will indeed be marks of real proficiency and 
distinction, and raise the colored people in that public 
esteem which above all things they need. ' ' 



CHAPTER XI. 



MORTALITY. 



The Colored Race in Nashville.— Prof. Harris, of 
Fisk University, recently completed a canvass of the 
colored people living in a certain district of Nashville. 
He g-ives ns the following striking and important facts: 

Birth Rate. — I visited 145 families containing 649 
people, or an average of something over four to a 
family. In other words, each family contains on an 
averao^e between two and three children. This falls 
far below what former literature on the rapid increase 
of the Negro might lead us to expect. If one may 
generalize from so limited a canvass, the Negro is not 
the "prolific animal" that he has been termed. His 
birth rate is considerably less than it ought to be. 

Mortality. — This fact in connection with the exces- 
sive mortality among them is, to all thoughtful colored 
men, an occasion of some alarm. The Negro popula- 
tion of Nashville is probably only half as great as the 
white ; yet they sometimes have not only relatively but 
absolutely, a greater number of deaths. The excess 
of deaths among the colored people is due largely and 
perhaps altogether, to constitutional diseases. During 
a short period of time some years ago the colored 
death rate was far ahead of the birth rate ; I estimated 
that if emigration and immigration were shut off, and 
the vital statistics were to continue right along as they 
did that period of time, in less than one hundred years 
there would not be a colored man, woman or child 
living in the city of Nashville. 

Homes. — Of the homes I canvassed in the territory 

279 
19 Progies.s 



280 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

described, 77 are rented, 61 are owned by their occu- 
pants, and 7 are being bought in monthly payments, 
averaging $8.00 per month; that is, nearly 47 per cent, 
either own or are buying their homes. This is a very 
good showing, when we remember that thirty years 
ago they hardly owned even the clothes on their backs. 

Of the 77 who rent, 12 pay above $6.00 per 
month, 18 pay $6.00; 20 pay $5.00,' and 27 pay less than 
$5.00 The highest monthly payment made by those 
who are buying is §12.00; the lowest $5.00. 

Deaths. — Within the last five years there have been 
92 deaths in this community, 19 of which were due to 
consumption, and 8 to pneumonia. The other 65 
deaths were due to 34 different causes. It would seem 
as if pulmonary consumption is the "destroying angel" 
among us, and yet I am told that before the war this 
dread disease was virtually unknown among the slaves. 
During the year 1896, the people suffered from 43 dif- 
ferent diseases, seven dying from consumption. Thir- 
teen suffer from scrofula, occasioning the loss of an eye 
in the case of six and rendering four others quite deaf. 

Children in Public Schools.— Eighty-seven per cent, 
of the children of scholastic age are in the public 
schools. Many, perhaps m^ost, of the 13 per cent, who 
are out, have applied for admission to the schools, but 
have been turned away because of lack of room. 

Use of Educational Advantages.— The colored people 
are making splendid use of their educational advan- 
tages, and however unfavorably their vital and social 
statistics may compare with those of another race, in 
educational progress they have equaled any, and sur- 
passed most other people. 

Occupation and Earnings. — Among the colored 
people of this community there are represented 51 



MORTALITY. 281 

different occupations: For the year 1896 the total 
weekly income of the families investigated, including- 
ail that was earned by every member of the family, 
was $1,321.65, or a weekly average of only $9.11 per 
family. When we remember that more than one-half 
of these families pay rent, and that some support a 
larg:e number of children, it is a true saying that "one- 
half of the world does not know how the other half 
lives. " But of 133 families visited, $;^ earned less than 
$6 a week, 49 earned $6 or more, but not $10; 43 
earned $10 or more, but not $20 ; 8 earned $20 or more, 
biit not $30, and 2 earned $30 or more, but not $40. It 
is worthy of a remark that among the 649 people can- 
vassed, in spite of their poverty, I found only four pro 
fessional beesrars. 

Enforced Idleness. — During the last year 61 col- 
ored people, 2 1 years old and above, who are habitually 
employed, underwent a period of enforced idleness 
aggregating 749 weeks, or an average of three months 
per capita. When we remember how scanty is the 
average income earned by the whole family, being 
only §9 per week, three months of enforced idleness 
must have intensified greatly their already hard battle 
for life. 

Constitutional Diseases. — The slow rate of increase 
among the colored people is due to two causes, consti- 
tutional diseases and the crimes of mothers. More 
white people die from contagious diseases than 
colored. More white people die from local diseases 
than colored ; while more colored people die from con- 
stitutional diseases than white. In other words, the 
excess of colored deaths over white is due to constitu* 
tional diseases. 

Crimes of Mothers. — I also found by personal in- 



282 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

vestigation that year tliat a large number of colored 
washerwomen, finding it hard to get the husks to feed 
and the rags to clothe their already large family of 
little ones, living in one room like stock, rather than 
to add to their burdens, resort to crime. This is also 
a fruitful reason of the slow rate of increase in the 
colored population. This state of affairs is not 
confined to Nashville. It is true of nearly all our 
large Sot:thern cities; and whether we like it or not, 
the hard fact remains that the enormous death rate 
among us, together with our small birth rate, is one 
of the signs of the times that, unless our home life be 
radically changed, the Negro problem in America may 
be ultimately solved by the extinction of the Negro. 

Lack of Stamina. — Anglo-Saxons are exterminating 
the inferior races more rapidly and more surely than 
shot and shell and bayonet. Before the advancing 
march of the Anglo-Saxon, the New Zealanders, the 
Tasmanians, the Pacific Islanders, the Negroes of 
South Africa, and the aborigines of Australia have all 
gone down to the grave; and, be it remembered, 
brethren, that these races have all perished, not 
because of destructive wars and pestilence, but because 
they were unable to live in the environment of a nine- 
teenth century civilization. Their destruction was not 
due to a persecution which came to them from without, 
but to a lack of stamina within. Their extermination 
was due to the inexorable working out of a law as 
natural as the law of gravitation. And be it remem- 
bered, that these races perished in spite of the human- 
itarian and philanthropic efforts that were put forth to 
save them. They perished because they had not power 
of resistance within. 

Keep Up. or Get Out of the Way.— If the fate of 



MORTALITY. 28 



Q 



these races teaches me anything-, it teaches me that in 
the onward march of the nations the colored race in 
America has got to keep up with the procession, or 
else, like them, it has got to get out of the way. Now, 
this may seem hard to yon, but hard as it is, it is a hard 
fact, and we might as well face it. The social, intel- 
lectual, and scientific world is moving as fast in its 
orbit as the earth beneath our feet ; and those of tis who 
cannot keep up with it are bound to be crushed to 
pieces by it. Our white friends could not retard the 
world's progress to accommodate us, even if they 
would ; and, men, I believe, that we are too manly to 
ask them to do so, even if they could. 

Social Regeneration. — We are apt to look to business 
and to politics to bring about our social regeneration, 
to give us civil standing and political recognition ; we are 
apt to look solely to business and to politics to do away 
with the old order of things among us, and bring in the 
new. We are looking to business and to politics to 
give us a new home life, to give us new social status — 
to give us a new earth — and we neglect Christian work 
because we forget in a measure that before we can 
have the new earth we must have the new heaven. 
First, we must have the new heaven ; then we can have 
the new earth. First, new ambitions, new purposes, new 
motives, new ideals ; then the new home life, the new 
social status, the new civil and business standing, and the 
new political conditions. First, the new heaven, then 
the new earth. ' ' 

Mortality. — In 1896 a convention on the mortality 
among the Negroes in cities was held at Atlanta Uni- 
versity, and widespread interest was exhibited. From 
the proceedings of this convention we cull the following 
items from papers read by eminent men through the 
nation : 



284 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

A Problem. — The rapid i^rowth of our great cities 
within recent years is one of the phases of modern life 
which brings with it problems whose solution calls for 
the best efforts of the leading men in the city commun- 
ities, whether white or black. Special courses for the 
study of these problems have been established in the 
Northern colleges, and it is felt that the time has come 
when Atlanta University must take ux-) the study of 
these problems of city life which its graduates are 
called upon to meet and solve. It is none too soon to 
begin this work, for each year a larger proportion of 
the colored race are concentrated in the cities. 

In Cities. — In i860 only 4.2 per cent, of the colored 
population of the United States were living in the 
cities. By 1880 the number had increased to 8.4 per 
cent, of the whole colored population, while by 1890 it 
had increased to 1 2 per cent. This process of concen- 
tration in the cities has been relatively much more 
rapid among the colored people than among the whites, 
the figures for whites during the same period being 
10.9 per cent, in i860, and 15.7 percent, in 1890, or an 
increase of 4. 8 per cent. , against 7. 8 per cent, colored. 
How rapid this increase in the city population really 
is may be illustrated by the growth of the colored popu- 
lation of Atlanta, where the increase has been at a 
rate three times as great as for the country at large. 
For decade 18 70- 1880, the increase was 64 per cent. ; 
for 1 880- 1 890, 72 per cent. ; while the average increase 
of colored population for the whole country during the 
same period was only 20 per cent, in each decade. 

Five Cities. — From the United States census for 1890, 
we have the mortality for the white and colored popu- 
lation of five of our largest cities — Washington, Balti- 
more, New Orleans, Louisville and St. Louis — as 



MORTALITY. 285 

given in a paper published by the trustees of the Slater 
Fund: 

, — Rates per 1,000— > 
White. Colored- 
Washington 19 36 

Baltimore 22 36 

New Orleans 22 37 

Louisville 18 32 

St. Louis 17 35 

The excess of colored over white is loo, 6t,.6^ 68, 
77 and io6 per cent. 

Twenty-one Families in Washington. — Dr. Evans 
has furnished the information in regard to one group 
of twenty-one families, and although it is impossible 
for us to make from this one group any generalization 
in regard to the colored population of the city of Wash- 
ington, a commtmity of 86,000 persons, the information 
is very interesting as representing the generally well- 
to-do character of the twenty-one families represented. 

The neighborhood in which they live is reported as 
being fair or good, and this is confirmed by the follow- 
ing figures deduced from this report, thus : 

Thirteen of the twenty-one families own their own 
houses. The houses for the most part are supplied 
with modern conveniences, nineteen having city water, 
nine sewer connections, etc. The average number of 
rooms occupied by the family is between five and six, 
the smallest number being four, while over half have 
six or eight. 

The average number of persons occupying the same 
sleeping room is two, although in four instances there 
are four to a room, and in one instance five. There 
are only four cases of sickness reported, while twelve 
families report no sickness at all. 

Income. — Only ten families report as to income, but 



286 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

the average for the ten is high, being $664 a year, and 
in seven families out of the ten the husband entirely 
supports the family by his sole labor. It is interesting 
to note the occupation of these seven men. The largest 
income is earned by a carpenter, who reports his 
earnings as $780; next c(<mes a barber, earning $720 a 
year; a teacher, earning $650; a janitor, $560; a 
laborer, $480; a steward, $390; and laborer, $250. 

Largest Income. — The largest income of one family 
is that of a family of nine, the father and mother both 
dead, and the eldest brother and two sisters supporting 
the family. The brother is an expressman, earning 
$500 a year; the two sisters are teachers, earning $450 
each, making a total of $1,400 a year. This family 
owns its own house, having eight rooms, with city 
water, sewer connections and other conveniences. 
Five of the families report savings averaging $123.52 
per family. 

Negligence a Cause of Mortality. — The average 

laborer is exceedingly neglectful. He will drive or 
walk all day in the rain or snow, come home and go to 
bed with his wet clothes on, with the belief firmly fixed 
in his mind that unless he lets these clothes dry on him 
he will contract a cold, and 1.0 argument we might use 
will convince him otherwise. Again, since the colored 
people here compose the majority of the laboring 
classes, it stands to reason that they are more exposed 
than the whites, and are therefore more susceptible to 
those diseases that may be caused by exposure. The 
colored man sweeps the streets and fills his lungs with 
the dust and dried bacteria expectorated on the streets 
a few hours since from the lungs of some consumptive ; 
he drives the garbage carts, he digs the sewers, drives 
the hacks and drays, and, in fact, does the most of 



MORTALITY, 287 

work involving exposure, which naturally makes him 
more liable to contract such diseases as pleurisy, 
bronchitis, pneumonia and consumption. 

Charitable Institutions. — The city has neglected, 
and is still neglecting, the colored people, and especially 
that class of them which is dependent upon its charity 
in times of sickness. It has millions to build prisons 
with, but not a dollar with which to build charitable 
institutions. It allows money grabbers to build small 
huts and crowd into them five times the number of 
people that should be allowed ; it has no law by which 
the owner of this property can be made to keep it clean. 
The houses are never painted, the Veils are filled with 
the filth of the neighborhood, and the fences are never 
whitewashed, and the city is powerless to interfere. 
Family after family move into these places, and often 
only one or two are left to tell the story. My friends, 
it is one thing to stand here in this clean, well-lighted 
hall and read papers on this subject, but it is altogether 
different to go down into those dark, poor and humble 
homes and see death going through destroying the old 
and young because of the negligence on the part of 
those in authority. 

Physicians. — Some of the white physicians neglect 
the colored people. I wish it to be understood, how- 
ever, that I mean some , not all, for there are some 
honorable exceptions to the statement just made. I 
say they neglect our people, and we cannot blame them. 
Doctors can no more afford to work for nothing than a 
teacher or any other person who is working for an 
honest living. Hence, he refuses to go to these people ; 
first, because they are not able to pay, and secondly, 
because the city has appointed physicians whose duty- 
it is to attend the poor in their various wards. These 



288 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

physicians are paid from $500 to $800 a year to do that 
work, and then they neglect it, especially such cases as 
diphtheria. 

Dispensaries. — While this city has furnished physi- 
cians, it has furnished no medicine. It has no free 
dispensaries, as it should, nor does it pay the ph3^sicians 
money enough to furnish medicines applicable in every 
case, and at the same time care for himself and family. 
Hence, when he is called to see a patient, it matters not 
what the disease may be, it is either compound cathartic 
pills, calomel, epsom salts, blue mass, or castor oil. 
Any case these remedies don't reach is left to get well 
if it can, or die if 'it must. I ask, then, in all candor: 
Is it any wonder that we die so fast when we get such 
attention, doctors, such excellent nursing, such fresh 
medicines, applicable in every case of our diseases? 

Hospitals.~Here in Atlanta, a city of push, pluck 
and Christian progress, there is not a decent hospital 
where colored people can be cared for. At the Grady 
hospital, which takes about $20,000 of the city's money 
annually to run it, is a small wooden annex dow^n by 
the kitchen, in which may be crowded fifty or sixty 
beds, and that is all the hospital advantages 40,000 
colored citizens have. But, on the other hand, our 
white friends, with a population of about 70,000, have 
all the wards and private rooms in the entire brick build- 
ing at this hospital, together with a very fine hospital 
here, known as St. Joseph's Infirmary. Hence, my 
friends, you can see that one of our greatest needs .is a 
first-class, up-to-date hospital, where the colored people 
cari not only get proper treatment, but can also have all 
necessan/ operations performed. 

Intemperance a Cause of Mortality. — To ascertain 
the truth of this subject concerning the relation of in- 



MORTALITY. 289 

temperance to mortality^ it is necessary not only to 
enumerate the deaths due to acute alcoholism, such as 
delirium tremens and the various sudden congestions 
and paralyses consequent upon the taking of excessive 
quantities of strong drink, together with the great 
majority of homicides, suicides and accidental deaths, 
which may be traced directly to the use of alcoholics; 
but it is necessary, also, to inquire into the real cause 
of the deaths ascribed to the ordinary acute and chronic 
diseases, the contagious and the infectious diseases — 
indeed, the whole category of classified diseases. 

Contagious and Infectious Diseases. — With refer- 
ence to death froin contagious and infectious diseases, 
it is the unanimous testimony of the leading authorities 
that during the scourges of cholera, yellow fever and 
smallpox, it is the drinker who falls victim, the mod- 
erate drinker being no exception to the rule, while the 
total abstainer is less liable to contract the disease, and 
if affected, is far more likely to survive. The fact 
holds good in such diseases as scarlet and typhoid 
fevers, when there are unknown antidotes to the specific 
poison, and the quality of the tissues is relied upon to 
resist or survive the disease. 

Heredity. — Alcohol, as a remote cause of death, is 
none the less effective in cases in which the victim is 
not himself addicted to the use of strong drinks, but 
inherits from drinking parents a weak constitution, 
which renders him an easy prey, an inviting field for 
disease. To inherited weakness is due a large per cent 
of the alarming rate of infant inortality resulting from 
cholera infantuin, measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, 
etc. Says our own Dr. Orme: "If it were possible 
to separate deaths due to alcohol from the classified 
diseases to which they are ascribed, the facts would 
be astounding. ' ' 



290 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Principal Factors. — That intemperance is one of the 
principal factors in the terrible death-rate among- the 
Negro population in the cities, there can be no ques- 
tion. It is in the cities that intemperance prevails. I 
believe that no one at all informed would hesitate to 
assert that ninety-nine per cent of the city population 
are addicted to some extent to the use of strong drinks. 
No one will deny that the Negro is no exception to this 
rule. It is well known that that class of the Negro pop- 
ulation which furnishes the excessive death rate is that 
class addicted to the use of whisky and beer in their 
vilest forms. It is this ignorant, drunken class of 
Negroes which furnish 90 per cent, of the criminals 
which crowd our jails and penitentiaries, and who, 
poorly clad and fed, exposed to. the great extremes of 
heat and cold, working rain or shine at most laborious 
tasks, while serving terms in the chain-gangs, contract 
diseases and die by hundreds annually. Those who 
live to be released flock to the cities to furnish their 
remaining weeks or months, and add their quota to 
the death-rate. If this were the end alone of men and 
women, old and hardened criminals, it would not be 
so serious, but this is the end of hundreds of boys and 
girls arrested for misdemeanors. 

Poverty a Cause of Mortality. — Slavery left the 
colored man the rich inheritance of a log cabin and a 
patch of turnip greens. This log cabin is a piece of 
architecture that will soon be entirely relegated to the 
barbarous past. Peace be to its ashes ! It has disappeared 
in the towns and cities, and is found only in the poverty- 
stricken rural districts. Can not you recall the picture 
of that poor family who worked hard all day in the field 
while their little ones, almost nude, played around the 
door until the sun dropped behind that hill studded 



MORTALITY. 291 

with beautiful trees? See the mother return and pre- 
pare her evening- meal ; the fire is lighted, the children 
hungry and crying; behold the repast — fried bacon, 
poorly-cooked bread and black molasses. A pine 
torch illuminates the room that serves as a kitchen, 
dining-room, bed and bath-room. After supper the 
little ones are off to bed without being properly bathed 
and dressed, and after the usual chair-nap, the father 
and mother retire. There they are in a row, and only 
one small window and door to let in nature's life-giving 
air that keeos them from stiff ocatino;-. 

Mortality Among the Children of the Poor. — We 
find great mortality among the children of the poor. 
Even^ before they can make their wants known, the 
mother is compelled to leave them daily, and a sur- 
prising number are burned to death. The older chil- 
dren are taught to go out and pick up trash to burn, 
rags, bones, and iron to sell, thereby inviting disease 
and death. It is a strange fact, yet true,, that all work 
that is obnoxious, dangerous and laborious is given the 
poor Negro at pay that would kill some people even to 
think of having it to do for a living. These people, in 
buying food etc. , always seek quantity and not quality ; 
hence the butcher, fisherman, fruiterer, dairyman and 
merchants are careful to anticipate their wants. 

Ignorance. — Among the many causes which produce 
death in our large cities, it is by no means an easy 
matter to distinguish beween ignorance, poverty and 
negligence. However, it is safe to assert that no few 
of the deaths which occur in our large cities are the 
result of ignorance, either directly or indirectly. 

It will be seen from the outset that city life requires 
a more accurate observance of the laws of health than 
country .or village life. With this fact in mind, all 



292 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

cities have established their boards of health to look 
after and remove any and all causes which in their minds 
produce sickness or death. These boards are Tistially 
composed of the best informed physicians who, from 
time to time, make and publish rules which are to be 
observed and obeyed by all citizens. These rules the 
ignorant classes do not obey, not because they are will- 
fully disobedient, but because they are ignorant. They 
cannot read, they, have no interest in public affairs; 
they know but little about the causes which bring sick- 
ness and disease among them, and hence are the easy 
prey of epidemics and contagions. 

Improper Ventilation. — Many suffer on account of 
improper ventilation, not knowing that impure air is 
the parent of every lung trouble known to the human 
family. Pure air is one of the freest and best gifts 
bestowed upon man by our beneficent Father; but 
alas ! how many thousands in our large cities die every 
year from failing to use this gift! Man and woman, 
through ignorance, shut the doors and windows of 
their houses, thus barring out God's life-giving atmos- 
phere, and inviting consumption and death. Pure air 
gives life, foul air gives death. 

General Condition. — "Birds of a feather flock 
together. ' ' In Augusta, as in most cities of America, 
there are parts of the city occupied exclusively by 
Negroes, except a few whites, usually German or Irish, 
keepers of small stores, who live among the Negroes 
for the sake of their trade. Although some do not 
believe it, yet it is true that there are grades of society 
among Negroes, as among other races, and the lines of 
distinction are drawn for as wise and as silly reasons as 
are those among the more favored people. As in other 
things, this grading is seen in the choosing of a locality 



MORTALITY. 293 

for a home. The poorest, most untidy and the most 
ignorant seek each other. They always find homes in 
the same neighborhood, if not in adjoining houses. As 
each city has its Negro settlements, and as the great 
rank and file of the race belong to the grade or class 
called the poorest and most ignorant, the largest set- 
tlements are of this kind. 

Wages. — These people have small wages, many with 
nothing to do a great part of the year, and the 
majority have no steady employment. For food, rent, 
fuel and clothing they are dependent upon the odd jobs 
that pay not more than fifty cents per day for two or 
three days in a week. To eke out a living on such an 
income requires, they know, the strictest economy, 
but how to economize they know not, yet, thinking 
they know, in their way they set about it. The first 
step is to cut down the expense of living by taking no 
more house room than barely enough in which to turn 
around. A small family, parents and two or three 
children, take one room. 

Contents of a Room. — In this room, 15x15, some- 
times smaller space, are placed a bedstead, a three- 
quarters bed, sometimes two (but in these days of 
cheap furniture and installment sales, a folding 
lounge very often takes the place of the second bed- 
stead), one or two tables, a trunk, bureau, not less than 
four chairs, tubs, boards, etc., for laundering, cooking 
utensils, and a lot of odds and ends. These, with the 
family, give breathing space scarcely sufficient for one, 
yet by some means it is hoped to get enough for the 
whole family. It is not long before hypostatic pneu- 
monia or tuberculosis visits them, and finding the 
atmosphere congenial abides with the family. 

Infants. — The high rate of mortality among infants 



294 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

is a subject well worthy the consideration of all thotight- 
ful men and women, and naturally leads one to enquire 
as to causes and possible remedies. Prominent among 
the causes of this high rate must be mentioned bad 
heredity and injudicious and harmful management of 
these little ones by their parents. As a result of these 
two causes, many children are ill-prepared to meet and 
battle with the acute diseases almost inevitably before 
them ; they are raore apt to contract disease than a 
healthier child ; they are more apt to die from it, when 
once contracted, as their resisting power is weakened 
by their -heredity and their management since birth. 

Sociological Condition. — For a number of years I 
have thought that the greatest danger to the real prog- 
ress of the colored people lies in this sociological con- 
dition in the large cities. It is difficult, however, to 
get the facts. There is very little attention given in 
the South to the vital statistics of Negroes. In fact, 
the census is neither full nor altogether reliable. The 
facts, if gotten at all, must be searched out by conscien- 
tious persons specially interested in this kind of work. 
Nevertheless, any one who will give the least observa- 
tion to this matter will see that the cities are the hotbeds 
of crime, misery and death among the colored people. 
Here the people are huddled together, with often two 
or three families in one room. Without employment 
for more than half the time, they are consequently 
insufficiently fed and poorly clothed. When sick they 
arc unable either to employ a physician or to buy 
medicine. At least 25 per cent, of them die without 
medical aid. 

Savannah. — In the city of Savannah, during the year 
1894, 251 colored persons died without medical atten- 
tion. This is ^^ys per cent, of the total number of 



MORTALITY. 



29d 



deaths among these people for that year. About 60 
per cent, of this number of deaths were children under 
the age of ten. Twenty-four thousand of the 52,000 
population of Savannah are Negroes. Hence, it will 
be seen that whatever affects these people affects at 
least nearly half the population of our chief seaport. 
What is true of Savannah I judge to be approximately 
true of all the cities of Georgia and most of the cities 
of the South. 

Crime. — The city colored people drift into crime be- 
cause they are idle and hungry far oftener than because 
they are purposely vicious. All cities furnish far too 
large a proportion of crime, ignorance and misery of the 
colored people. Any movement, therefore, that will 
bring to light the facts, la}^ bare the causes, and sug- 
gest the remedies in relation to this crime, misery and 
death which affects our people in the cities will merit 
universal applause. 




REV. WM. H FURNESS, 

One of the foremost Abolitionists of Pennsylvania. 
'Death is the worst that can befall us. if so. be that we are faithful to the 

right " 




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EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT 297 

Arkansas Baptist College, Little Rock, Ark., has 

made rapid strides during the first twelve years of its 
existence. The attendance has increased from year 
to year till the last matriculation register shows nearly 
two hundred names who attended some of its depart- 
ments during the past year. Consequently, it now 
wields a wide-spread influence over the entire state 
and adjacent states. During the summer vacation 
(1899) the president has had applications from Geor- 
gia, North Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, 
Missouri, Alabama, Indian Territory, and Oklahoma. 

Besides the increased attendance and the conse- 
quent growth of influence ever strengthening and 
ever widening, its property values have enhanced and 
its improvements have moved steadily on in spite of 
the hard times. The great brick structure has been 
nicely finished on the inside, wdth a chapel large 
enough to accommodate five hundred, with an elegant 
suite of office rooms, and ample recitation rooms. 

The property is located in the southwest part of the 
city, between two of the most popular street railway 
lines, fine electric cars passing ever}^ twelve minutes. 

The printing department also has a handsome 
building 25x60, in which there is placed a large 
Prouty power press, operated either by hand or 
mechanical power, a small job press and six racks 
or stands fitted with a great variety of news and job 
type. From this department the students issue the 
Baptist Vanguard, most of the denominational minutes, 
college catalogues and smaller jobs for local patrons. 
A small beginning has also been made in the line of 
carpentry and shoe mending, fashionable and plain 
sewing, cooking and laundry work. 



CHAPTER XII. 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 



Educational Institutions — Industrial Schools — The 
Press. 

Next in importance to freedom and justice, is popu- 
lar education, without which neither justice nor free- 
dom can be permanently maintained. — Garfield. 

Bishop Atticus Hay good says: ''The most imique 
and altogether wonderful chapter in the history of 
education is that which tells the story of the Negroes 
of the South since 1865." 

Education. — The great end of education is to prepare 
one for usefulness in life, and the education that does 
not accomplish this is worse than useless. This age 
calls for practical men and women. The man who 
will continue to sit at his desk, the young woman who 
will go butterfly chasing and then look for the fulfill- 
ment of dreams and visions, will awake and find that 
the procession of progress has passed without a dis- 
covering of the true essentials of practical living. 

It is vain to seek knowledge simply for the sake of 
being smart, but this practical age needs practical men. 
Casting a boy adrift with a mind stored with classic 
lore, but not able to find an honorable means of sup- 
port, is, as Julia Hook says: "nothing less than a 
crime, he is a miserable failure as a breadwinner. ' ' 
Idleness and uselesness naturally follow, crime and 
poverty coine next in the train, crowding our peniten- 
tiaries and swarming our houses of prostitution. 
Ignorance of industries and idleness are what cause 
our people to lose their patriotism. The perpetuity of 

299 



300 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

our national life depends upon our knowledge and the 
usefulness of industrial pursuits. We have more need 
of carpenters than athletes, of educated farmers than 
professionals. Industry is the bright ray of hope. 
The industrial schools of the south are bringing us out 
of ignorance and vice and make us a blessing to 
society and posterity. 

Not in Question.— The intellectual development of 
the race is no more in question. The revelations of 
history are indeed a reflective commentary upon the 
so-called intellio-ence of those who went so far as to 
affirm the impossibility of the intellectual improve- 
ment of the Negro. Today there may be found many 
brilliant scholars in all the disciplines of learning. 
Ignorance of the historical and present day facts is 
inexplicable, except it be that American prejudice has 
decreed what should be known and what left unknown. 
These adverse views must be treated with the defer- 
ence that extreme antiquity, without the adjunct of 
intelligence, deserves. The truth remains, seen or 
unseen, that the Negro has a right and title to the 
citizenship of the republic of thought. 

No Higher Duty. — Gov. Atkinson says: "There is 
no higher duty resting upon the governors of the 
Southern states than to advance the education of the 
people of the state without regard to color. If any 
doubt that the colored man can be educated exists, it 
will all be dispelled by attending the commencements 
of the colleges for the colored. ' ' 

Education Improves. — Every one competent to speak 
and honest enough to be candid knows that education 
benefits and improves the Negro. It improves his 
morals, his character, and his usefulness. It makes 
him a better man and a better citizen, a better neigh- 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 301 

bor and a better workman, no matter what you put 
him at. The slave-owners learned that it paid to take 
good care of their slaves and the people of the South 
will learn that it pays to educate their Negro employes. 
Above all things, education of the Negro diminishes 
if it does not totally banish all danger of race conflict 
and trouble. 

Knowledge Not a Substitute for Virtue. — Hear 
what Dr. Hay good says: "No theory of universal edu- 
cation entertained by a rational people proposes knowl- 
edge as a substitute for virtue, or virtue a substitute for 
knowledge. Both are necessary. Without virtue knowl- 
edge is unreliable and dangerous ; without knowledge 
virtue is blind and impotent. " "I must say a word in 
defense, " says the same authority, "of the Negroes, par- 
ticularly those living in the Southern states. Considering 
the antecedents of the race in Africa, in those states be- 
fore the emancipation, and their condition today, the real 
surprise is that there is so much virtue and purity 
among them. Above all things, let the white people 
set them better examples. Since progress has already 
been made in this direction, we are permitted to hope 
that education will continue its beneficent work in this 
moral reformation of the people. Education will cer- 
tainly afford a better knowledge of the duties of the 
home, a keener appreciation of the obligation of the mar- 
riage state, a more consistent regard for the rights and 
the property of others, and a clearer conception of what 
virtue in womanhood signifies, and, therefore, a more 
determined purpose and means of defending that honor 
from the assaults of any man, even at the very risk of 
their lives. ' ' 

Color Blind.— President Ware, of the Atlanta Univer- 
sity, was one of the early workers in the educational 



302 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

field among the Negroes. On one occasion, being ser- 
iously asked by a Southern white man how, with all his 
culture and qualifications, he could content himself to 
live and labor among the blacks, he tersely replied: 
*'Oh, I can easily explain that. I'm simply color-blind." 

Appreciating Advantages. — ' ' Talks for the Times' ' 
says: "Last year, in the four institutions of higher 
learning, established in Atlanta by Northern benevo- 
lence, there were, in round numbers, twelve hundred 
students. Of these, Atlanta University enrolled 310; 
Clark University, 222; the Baptist Seminary for Males, 
about 140, and the Baptist Seminary for Females, 500. 
But Atlanta is only one of the great centers of educa- 
tion in the South. There is Nashville, literally girdled 
by institutions ; there is New Orleans-^in fact, you 
will find today, in every Southern state, one or more 
institutions for the higher training of Negro youth ; and 
the very fact that all these institutions are more or less 
crowded yearly, and the very fact that frequent appeal 
goes out from them to Christian philanthropy for more 
buildings, for increased accommodations, are proof con- 
clusive, I think, that the Negro not only appreciates the 
advantages held out to him, but is also exerting himself 
to enjoy them. " 

Civilization Progressing. — Dr. Ruffner, for many 
years superintendent of public instruction for the state 
of Virginia, in one of his reports a few years ago, bore 
this testimony to the credit of the Negro: **He wants 
to do right and is the most amiable of races. The 
Negro craves education, and I believe his desire has 
increased ; it certainly has not diminished. He makes 
fully as great sacrifices to send his children to school as 
the laboring classes of the whites. The civilization of 
the race is progressing, and even faster than his thought • 
f ul friends anticipated. ' ' 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 303 

Trained Minds. — At the 250th anniversary of Har- 
vard College, a profound student of public affairs, 
James Russell Lowell, in a famous address, said: 
*'What we need more than anything else is to increase 
the number of thoroughly trained minds, for these, 
wherever they go, are sure to carry with them, con- 
sciously or not, the seeds of sounder thinking and of 
higher ideals. The only way in which our civilization 
can be maintained, even at the level it has reached — the 
only way in which that level can be made more general 
and be raised higher — is by bringing the influence of the 
more cultivated to bear with greater energy and direct- 
ness on the less cultivated, and by opening more inlets 
which make for refinement of mind and body. ' ' This 
is the testimony that runs along the history of educa- 
tion. Our New England fathers cherished soimd learn- 
ing for Christianity's sake. 

Wisdom. — But if this is wisdom, and continues to be 
an ever-present necessity for people who have cherished 
higher education for centuries, not less is it wisdom and 
necessity for a race undeveloped, where the need of this 
affiliation of learning and religion is absolute. No people 
can rise who are shut in to limited and partial privileges. 

Higher Institutions. — Indeed, except for higher insti- 
tutions, the public school system of the South for the 
colored people could not be carried on with any degree 
of worthiness. But the public schools did not exhaust 
our reasons for our higher instittitions. Our reasons 
are in our pulpits. They are in necessary professions. 
They are found among the bankers and builders and 
editors and printers. They are rapidly raising the rank 
of their race. This is very practical ; for, when we con- 
sider the question of practicability in the salvation and 
elevation of a people, we realize that our fathers were 



304 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

right to conclude that the idea of education is short- 
sighted and bad which considers knowledge to be prac- 
tical only as it can be made at once to grind corn, or 
can be measured by merely materialistic values. 

Practicability. — Accepting the fact of the decrees 
which decide the capacities of men and their limitations, 
so that the rank and file must be prepared for and 
eneaee in manual labor of some kind, it remains true 
that those who can impregnate the minds of people 
about them, who can quicken their thoughts, who can 
rouse lower intellects and energize them, who can 
change their low views to higher ones and give larger 
and truer ideas of life and the world, here and hereafter, 
and make their lives more vital with thought for daily 
wants and uses, will be found to have a very practical 
education. 

Thinkers. — Moreover, by forces not material are the 
material forces penetrated and stirred. When we see 
how the thoughts of men are harnessed into service in 
the places of industry then we understand that there is 
no arithmetic with figures enough to compute the mere 
money- value of the thoughts which are the secrets of 
materialistic accomplishment. In education we cannot 
forget that the world's advance in wealth, as in every- 
thing else, comes from those who know how to think, 
and that those who develop the thinkers develop the 
workers. The greater the intellectual wealth of a 
people, the greater will be the aggregate of materialistic 
wealth, and the developed material prosperity will 
come more rapidly and surely with better developed 
men. 

Needs of Today. — Low-grade men are content with 
low-grade things. Along all the lines of materialistic 
development the great need of the Negro people today 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 305 

is men of trained thought, thinking- men, men of larger 
vision, and more comprehensive minds, who can and 
v^ill uplift and establish the material as well as the intel- 
lectual and spiritual standard of the race. Therefore 
we are confident that the shortest path in the develop- 
ment of the colored people is in the more perfect devel- 
opment of their intelligence, in the more complete com- 
mand of their mental powers. With this there comes a 
better industry in their habits, for ignorance and indo- 
lence are twins. We know also that all experience 
stands back of this knowledge — that a low mental life 
tends to a low moral life, and that both of these con- 
ditions are a natural prey for oppressors and for all who 
do not wish to do justly. 

Equal Opportunities. — The African has a right to an 
equal opportunity with every other man to show what 
his competence is. This seed will not sprout, you say. 
Of course it will not sprout if you leave it in the drawer. 
Put it in the same soil with that other seed ; let the same 
sun shine upon it ; let* the same rain fall upon it, and 
then see whether it will sprout or not. What we 
demand for the colored man is that all doors shall be 
opened to him, all opportunities freely offered to him, 
the right and the liberty of industry given to him. We 
protest against a system which puts the wall of reserva- 
tion about the Negro, which denies him the fundamental 
rights of a free man, the right of locomotion, the right 
to buy in the cheapest market and sell in the highest 
market, the right to dispose of his goods wherever he 
can. We protest against a system which builds a wall 
around any portion of our American people and con- 
fines them as paupers and classes them with other paup- 
ers. If we were to take a dozen young men and women 
under twenty-one years of age out of Boston and shut 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 307 

them lip in some great wilderness and were to say to 
them, "You shall not own the products of your industry, 
you shall not sell them in the markets of the world, you 
shall not have free access to the telegraph and the press, 
you shall not know what is going on in the world ; but 
we will put a mission chapel and a mission school here 
and there, and if you do not work we will feed you. ' ' 
How long would it take for them to become tramps and 
paupers. We claim for the African absolute and equal 
opportunities with the white man — the same door as 
widely open, the same avenues as free, the same wages 
for the same labor, the same chance to prove his man- 
hood in industrial relations. 

Equal Political Rights. — This does not mean uni- 
versal suffrage, but it does mean the same conditions 
of suffrage to the man of one color as to the man of 
another color. The question whether there shall be a 
property qualification or not is a very fair question, but 
if there be such a qualification it must be, under any 
just and equitable system of government, the same for 
one race as for another. The law which savs to a 
thrifty Negro, "You shall not vote," and to a thriftless 
white man, "You shall vote," is unjust and inequitable. 
The law which provides one kind of educational quali- 
fications for one because his skin is tanned, and another 
for the man whose skin is not tanned, is unfair and 
unjust. We stand for equal rights in this republic of 
republics. 

Equal Facilities and Stimulus. — The Negro race 
must have the same educational and religious facilities 
and the same stimulus to intellectual and moral growth, 
and any scheme of education which purposes to furnish 
the Negro race only with manual and industrial educa- 
tion is a sly contrivance for putting him in serfdom ; it 



308 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

tacitly says that the Negro is the inferior of the white 
race, and therefore we will educate him so as to serve 
us. The race must have an education which in its final 
outcome shall be complete, and which shall open oppor- 
tunities for the highest culture of which any individual 
of that race is capable. 

Duty of the Government. — Jtidgc Gunby says : "The 
failure of the Federal government to educate the slaves 
they made freemen is a shame and a disgrace, a scarlet 
letter on the garb of our history, a stigma which^ like 
the damned spot that soiled the little hand of Lady Mac- 
beth, will never wash out until the wrong has been re- 
paired. ' ' 

Slavery at the Bottom. — President Price says that 
slavery, as a system, degraded the Negro to the level of 
the brute, because it denied him the untrammeled exer- 
cise of all the instincts of a higher and better manhood. 
It recognized no moral sensibility in man or woman, 
regarded no sacred and inviolable relation between hus- 
band and wife, sundered at will or caprice the tenderest 
ties that the human heart is capable of forming or the 
human mind is able to conceive. Such a system had 
the support of the highest tribunal of men, and even the 
representatives of the church of God came to its rescue 
and defense, with all the weight of its divine authority 
and power. From the maternal knee, the table, the 
family altar, the forum, and the pulpit was the lesson 
taught that the person of sable hue and curly hair was 
a doomed, and therefore an inferior, race — not entitled 
to a place in the brotherhood of men. This impression, 
made on childhood's plastic nature, grew with his 
growth, and strengthened with the power of increasing 
years. 

Power of Law. — To deepen the blot, and intensify 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 309 

the damning heresy, the law of the land wrote him 
down a chattel, that is, cattle, and forbade the training- 
of the mind and the culture of the heart, by making 
learning, on his part, and teaching on the part of 
others, a crime. It is not surprising, then, that men 
brought up in the face of such a system for two hun- 
dred and fifty years should be skeptical as to the real 
manhood of the Negro, and hesitate to give him a place 
in the one-blood family. 

Prejudice. — The feeling against the Negro which 
helps to make our race problem is called prejudice, 
and it is not without some grounds. For two hundred 
and fifty years the white man of the South saw only 
the animal, or mechanical, side of the Negro. Wher- 
ever he looked, there was degradation, ignorance, 
superstition, darkness, and nothing more, as he thought. 
The man Avas overshadowed and concealed by the 
debasing appetites and destructive and avaricious pas- 
sion of the animal; therefore, the race problem of 
today is not an anomaly, it is the natural and logical 
product of an environment of centuries. 

Key to Problem. — Now, if ignorance, poverty and 
moral degradation are the grounds of the objection 
against the Negro, it is not difficult to discover that the 
knotty elements of the race problem are the intellectual, 
moral, and material conditions of the Negro race. It 
is reasonable, therefore, to suppose that if we can find 
the means that will change these conditions, we have 
found a key to the problem, and gone a great distance 
towards its satisfactory solution. Of course, none of us 
would dare argue that intelligence, or even education, 
is a panacea for all the ills of mankind ; for, even when 
educated, a Nero, a Robespierre, a Benedict Arnold, 
an absconding state treasurer, or a New York sneak- 
thief, would not necessarilv be impossibilities. 



310 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Not by Magic Spell. — I do not argtie that increased 
intelligence or multiplied facilities for education will, 
by some magic spell, transform the Negro into the 
symmetry, grace and beauty of a Grecian embodiment 
of excellence. It is certainly not my humble task to 
attempt to prove that education will, in a day, or a 
decade, or a century, rid the black men of all the phys- 
ical peculiarities and deformities, moral perversions 
and intellectual distortions which are the debasing 
and logical heritage of more than two and a half cen- 
turies of enslavement. 

Education the Best Means. — It is, nevertheless, 
reasonable to presume that, admitting the ordinary 
human capabilities of the race, which no sane and fair- 
minded man will deny, it can be readily and justly 
predicted that if the same forces applied to other races 
are applied to the Negro, and these forces are governed 
b}^ the same eternal and incontrovertible principles, 
they will produce corresponding results and make the 
Negro as acceptable to the brotherhood of men as any 
other race laying claims to the instinct of our common 
humanity. I believe that education, in the full sense 
of the term, is the most efficient and comprehensive 
means to this end, because in its results an answer is 
to be found to all the leading objections against the 
Negro which enter into the make-up of the so-called 
race problem. 

Good Government Implies Intelligence.— Dr. A. G. 
Haygood, of Georgia, in his "Pleas for Progress," says: 
"Good government implies intelligence, and universal 
suffrage demands universal education. ' ' It cannot now 
be said, as it was fifty years ago, that a Negro cannot 
be educated. The history of education among the 
colored people for a quarter of a century dees not con- 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 311 

firm the statement. The noble men and women who 
went into the South as missionaries, and felt their way 
throtigh~the smoke of battle and stepped over crimson 
battle-fields and among the wounded and the dying to 
bring intelligence to the Negroes, were taunted as 
going on a fool's errand. But the tens of thousands of 
young men and women in the schools of high grade 
established by Northern service and philanthropy — a 
million Negro children in the public schools in the 
South — are an imperishable monument to the wisdom 
of their action. I again quote from Dr. Hay good, who 
is an authoriiy on this subject: "All told, fully fifty 
millions of dollars have gone into the work of their 
(Negroes') education since 1865." Of this fifty mil- 
lions, more than half has been Southern money. The 
Negroes have made more progress in elementary and 
other education during the twenty-three years than any 
other illiterate people in the world, and they have justi- 
fied the philanthropy and public policy that made the 
expenditure. 

Whites Must Also Be Educated. — President Price 
aptly says that it must be remembered, however, that 
more is to be done than the education of the blacks, 
as a solution of the race problem ; for much of the 
stubbornness of the question is involved in the ignorant, 
lawless and vicious whites of the South, who need 
education worse that many of the blacks. To educate 
one race and neglect the other is to leave the problem 
half solved, for there is a class in the South to some 
extent more degraded and hopeless in their mental 
and moral condition than the Negro. This is the class 
to which many of the actual outrages are more attrib- 
utable than to any other class. Educate these as well 
as the blacks, and our problem is shorn of its strength. 

21 Progress 



312 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

When we call to mind the fact that 70 per cent, of 
the colored vote in the South is illiterate, and 30 
per cent, of the white vote is in the same condition, it is 
not difficult for one to discern that education of the 
blacks and whites as well is not only necessary for the 
solution of the race problem, and for good government, 
but for the progress and prosperity of that section 
where such illiteracy obtains. For the safety of the 
republic, the perpetuity of its glory and the stability 
of its institutions are commensurate, and only com- 
menstirate, with the intelligence and morality of its citi- 
zens, whether they be white men or black men. It is 
sometimes harder to educate out of prejudice than out of 
ignorance. 

Wealth-Producer. — The Negro is a wealth-producer 
now. Whether he reaps all the benefits of his labor or 
not, it is clear that he is the prime element in the grow- 
ing and boasted prosperity of the South. The late 
Henry W. Grady said, just before his death, that the 
Negroes in his state (Georgia) paid taxes on twenty 
million dollars' worth of property, and that the Negroes 
in the South contribute a billion dollars' worth of prod- 
ucts every year to the material prosperity of that 
section. The Atlanta Constitution, speaking of the 
Negroes in Texas, said recently that they own a million 
acres of land and pay taxes on twenty million dollars 
worth of property, have 2,000 churches, 2,000 benevo- 
lent associations, 10 high schools, 3,000 teachers, 23 
doctors, 15 lawyers, 100 merchants, 500 mechanics, 15 
newspapers, hundreds of farmers and stockmen, and 
several inventors. Now, these two states are but sam- 
ples of the wealth-producing results of twenty-five 
years' labor. If this has been their progress when it 
is admitted they have been under the hampering and 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 313 

retarding influences of ignorance, not to speak of other 
disadvantages, it is fair to assume that tinder the stim- 
nliis of intelhgence they will do a hundredfold more, 
and year by year and decade by decade change their 
poverty-stricken state, and thus remove another element 
in the problem, and thereby hasten its solution. 

Race Pride, — There seems to be quite as strong an 
affinity for their own race developed among the colored 
people, as a result of the improvement in their condi- 
tion, as among the whites. This improvement of both 
implies purity of race blood, combined with the recogni- 
tion of legal and political equality. 

This is manifest, not in the relations alone, but in 
almost everything. Probably it would be fotmd quite 
as difficult to bring the colored people to consent to the 
substitution of mixed for separate churches and schools 
in the South as to reconcile the other race to the 
change. ^ 

The Question. — The "race problem" in our coimtry 
includes not merely the question, What shall the white 
man do with the Negro? There is another, still more 
serious: What shall the Negro do with the white man? 

The colored people number nearly, if not quite, ten 
millions — one-sixth of our population. They are pos- 
sessed with a certain form of independence, which is 
beyond the reach of adverse laws and unkindly sur- 
roundings, and which cannot be taken from them 
without their consent to it — the independence which 
comes of subjection to fewer wants than press upon the 
white people who are about them, and who compose the 
balance of the nation. If they get but little, they have 
the advantage of being able to go without. Their 
mental, spiritual and physical wants are few, because 
of their lack of development. If they are ignorant. 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 315 

they are accustomed to the consequences of ignorance ; 
and if they are deprived of their rights, they have the 
advantage of having been slaves from the beginning. 

But, on the other hand, it does not go so easy with 
the white race, who compose the- larger factor of the 
American people. If the wants of the^ Negro are few, 
on the contrary, those of the white man are many ; and, 
as in the struggle for life the opportvmity to labor and 
to produce is the opportunity to live — for only by pro- 
ducing something to sell can any one buy and thus pro- 
cure the means of satisfying wants — it follows that if 
the man with few wants can get the work, he has the 
advantage of the man with many wants, who must 
suffer in being deprived oFhis purchasing power. 

Power of Education. — "The same light lighteth 
every man that cometh into the world. ' ' Says Henry W. 
Blair: "Education is the solution of the Southern prob- 
lem ; education is the solution of the Northera problem ; 
education is the solution of the problem of all htunan 
advancement. Right education of the physical, mental 
and spiritual powers of each individual will perfect 
society, and nothing else will do it. 

"Five hundred thousand teachers, who constitute 
the great profession in our country, are solving the 
difficulties which environ the nation. 

"True, there be other agencies — the church, the 
press, and the influences of the daily contact of life. 

"But the work of the teacher is fundamental, and is 
necessary, in order that intelligence may criticise creed 
and prevent religion from degenerating into supersti- 
tion ; in order that the press may perform its work at 
all, and that daily contact with others may not simply 
reproduce in coming generations the imperfect envi- 
ronment of the present. 



316 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

"The public school system is the only hope, in the 
sense that it is the great creative and saving institution 
of the republic. The general diffusion of knowledge, 
intelligence and virtue made us a republic. ' ' 

The Public School System. — The public school sys- 
tem is the army which wages everlasting w^ar upon 
ignorance and all w^hose victories are peace. 

Taxation by the public must be for the general good, 
and of necessity results in the public school, without 
which at least one-half of the property of the country 
would escape its just contribution to the education of 
the people, and not less than one-half the children 
would grow up in ignorance, by reason of the poverty 
of those who, while they h%ve produced life, may not 
have made money. 

The Outlay of Money and means for the education 
of the Negro during the last twenty-five years has ex- 
ceeded that of all the centuries of his enslavement. It 
is estimated that the Southern states have expended for 
his education I5 5, 000,000, and the Northern states $20,- 
000,000, making a total from the states of $75,000,000. 

Number of Institutions. — Among the public and pri- 
vate institutions set apart for this purpose, there were, 
in 1 89 1, 52 normal and industrial schools maintained 
by the states and by various religious denominations, 
having 10,000 students; 25 denominational and non- 
denominational universities and colleges, having 8,000 
students; 47 institutions for secondary instructions, 
having 12,000 students; 25 schools in theology, having 
700 students; 5 schools of law, with 100 students; 5 
schools of medicine, with 240 students; all, with two 
exceptions, located in the states formerly known as 
slave states. Besides these, there are in the South 16 
schools receiving both state and federal aid, and offer- 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 317 

ing to the colored youth industrial and ag-rictilttiral 
training, having about 2,500 students. 

Twenty-five Years, — Said the Honorable William 
B. Webb, District Commissioner, having in charge the 
schools of the District of Columbia, in presenting the 
certificates of graduation to the graduating class: 
"Twenty-five years ago colored men were not allowed 
upon the streets of the city of Washington after sun- 
down without passes. Twenty- five years ago I, myself, 
as Superintendent of Metropolitan Police, issued passes 
permitting colored persons to be fotmd on the streets 
after sundown in the city of Washington. Tonight I 
am permitted, and I assure you it is no small pleasure 
to me, to give young colored people, not unlikely the 
sons and daughters of those to whom I issued passes 
twenty-five years ago, certificates showing that you 
have completed a course of instructions, including that 
of the high school, provided for the young people of 
the District of Columbia, white and colored alike. ' ' 

Profitable Work.— Prof. W. B. Powell says: "The 
colored people should be educated as other people are 
educated, but the beginnings of such education should 
be wisely determined. They must be made industrious. 
I have said they are not idle, but to be made industrious 
they must be taught to work profitably. They must be 
made provident ; to do this they must be trained in the 
arts and processes of economy. They must be taught 
the meaning and value of thrift ; to accomplish this they 
must learn to work intelligently, to plan economically, 
and patiently to wait. They must learn the value of 
the investment of labor, and patience and faith, and 
waiting. 

Practical Training. — These valuable qualifications 
come not through books or letters alone ; they come by 



318 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

doing. So while I would say, teach the colored youth 
in and of books, I say, emphatically, train him also in 
the arts and processes of agriculture and gardening, and 
train him in these while he is learning to read ; thus 
will he learn to do both better. Train him in the proc- 
ess of the most useful mechanical arts, and let him get 
this training contemporaneous with the acquirement of 
his primary scholastic education ; train him in the arts 
and processes of barter and sale, and let this be done 
while he is taking his first steps in reading and arith- 
metic ; thus, becoming a man of affairs, his scholastic 
training will be intelligible to him. 

A supervisor (a colored man, graduate of the Ver- 
mont State Normal School), having in charge a 
hundred schools, when asked what he would do to 
educate the colored race if he were given authority to 
act and the disposition of the money now expend^ on 
their education, replied, that he would foster the lower 
graded schools, but instead of the colleges and high 
schools he would establish agricultural and trade 
schools, and perhaps more normal schools. 

Academic Instruction. — Academic instruction alone 
never reached stich results; it never can. I am not 
discussing the question of manual training ; I am talk- 
ing about the education of a people who know how to 
do a very little in harmony with the governing civiliza- 
tion on this continent. Our civilization represents, in 
the process of its growth, all the qualifications for which 
I plead. They cannot be omitted in the growth of any 
people. They cannot be transmitted from one people 
to another by any process of philanthropic endeavor or 
legal enactment. The people who would have the 
growth must themselves do the growing. 

The Great Danger of academic education for the 



' EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 319 

colored youth as now given by the schools in their 
developed condition, successful and brilliant as it is, is 
that it leads them away from the bread- winning pur- 
suits of life, which must necessarily be the lot of the 
great mass of them as it is of us all. This must be so 
while their manual pursuits are so rude and uninterest- 
ing. Unless the colored youth are made to know and 
feel that successes in manual labor are respectable and 
honorable, as honorable as purely scholastic successes, 
and unless they are made acquainted with, and given 
skill in, modern industrial arts and appliances, their 
education will be to them a source of restlessness and 
discontent, and may be to the community a source of 
danger. This is not true because of their color. 

The New England Farmer Boy did not learn to 
despise his home work by attending school three or 
four months in the winter. He was learning, under 
the skillful management of the father, more and more 
rapidly, at home than he learned at school. What he 
learned at school was only an additional acquisition that 
helped him in his home work. His chief learning was 
at home. The daughter of the colonial days made her 
chief acquisitions at home under the skillful manage- 
ment of the mother, where she learned to spin and 
weave and darn and patch. Her school life added 
accomplishments to these useful arts, and made her 
more intelligent and useful. 

Only Means of Growth. — The school is to the 
colored youth of whom I speak his only place of learn- 
ing. He learns nothing at home; nobody is competent 
to teach him advantageously ; he learns nothing from 
his neighbors; nobody with whom he associates does 
anything better than he finds it done in his own home. 
He comes to look on the school, therefore, as the only 



320 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



means of growth, as the only means of bettering his 
condition; he comes to look on school and scholastic 
acquisition as the only means by which he can become 




PROF. J. L. MURRAY. 

Principal Normal School, Albany, Georgia. 
(Graduate of Fisk University.) 

respectable and grow to be like the white man. Will 
he not learn to despise labor? This is a new view of 
life, its possibilities and opporttmities, that means 
defeat to the race that holds it, that is fraught with 
danger to the community. This may all be avoided by 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 321 

training" the hand and the mind simultaneously and 
proportionally. If the colored man has not been so 
trained, it is not his fault ; it is the fault of those who 
gave him the schools, the fault of those who builded for 
him. He knew not how to build for himself. 

Useful and Independent. — The colored youth can be 
educated to usefulness, respectability and honor. The 
education that the colored man receives, however, 
should be so directed as to make him useful and inde- 
pendent at the earliest possible moment. The philan- 
thropist will give alms to the unfortunate^ will feed the 
man temporaril}^ out of employment, but he will not 
give employment to the unskilled man when one who 
is skilled can be found. Not many years ago it was 
found that skilled persons from foreign lands were 
occupying the most lucrative positions in the factories 
of America. Aroused by this fact and further awak- 
encfl by the Centennial Exposition of 1876, the public 
schools of the nation began in earnest the training of 
hand and eye. Polytechnic schools sprang up in all 
parts of the land. These things were done for the 
benefit of America's bread-winners. 

America's Prosperity is due less to her agricultural 
interests than to her making powers. She has made 
herself wealthy, respected, and powerful, by transform- 
ing raw material into valuable and useful things. 
There is more of this to be done in the future than there 
has been in the past, and skilled hands will do it. The 
colored man should be made to appreciate this fact. 

If the colored man is not trained in the useful arts of 
life, in those arts that have made the best citizenship of 
America, in those arts that have given the greatest 
wealth to America, in those arts that have given the 
greatest dignity to America, in those arts that have 



322 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

brought the greatest renown to America, in those arts 
that have made it possible for the people to preserve a 
united interest and a common pride, under one govern- 
ment, the skilled white laborer will occupy the paying 
positions, leaving the unskilled colored laborer the poor- 
ly paid places of helpers and assistants. I wish only to 
see things as they are. ' ' 

In One Generation. — It is only thirty years since all 
the learning of his race was embodied in its folklore, 
when the written literature of the white man among 
whom he lived was sealed to him by the compulsory 
ignorance in which he was kept. The Negro in the 
old days mtist spend his time thinking and talking, where 
the white man by his side spent it in learning through 
the medium of books ; and thoughts and beliefs must 
be perpetuated by him in stories, songs, rhythmic utter- 
ances and rites and ceremonies which could by the 
whites be committed to paper, to survive or be forgot- 
ten as the case might be. In consequence of this short 
distance in time that lies between the Afro- American 
and the unwritten learning that belongs to the child- 
hood of his past, he may look back with ease and gather 
up for himself and his future history the small begin- 
nings of learning which preceded literary attainment. 

School Population. — The report of the Commissioner 
of Education for 1895 gives the following reliable infor- 
mation and statistics for the colored schools for that 
year. In the sixteen slave states and the District of 
Columbia, the estimated number of persons five to 
eighteen years of age, the school population, was 8,297,- 
160. Of this number 5,573,440 were white children 
and 2,723,720, or 32.9 per cent, colored. The total 
enrollment in the white schools was 3,845,414, and in 
the colored schools 1,441,282. The per cent, of white 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 323 

school population enrolled was 69, and the per cent, of 
the colored school population enrolled was 52.92. The 
whites had an average daily attendance of 2,510,907, or 
65.30 percent, of their enrollment, while the average at- 
tendance of the blacks was 956,312, or 58. 41. per cent, of 
fcheir enrollment. There were 89, 2 76 white teachers and 
27,081 colored teachers in the public schools of the South 
in 1895. 

Money Expended. — An accurate statement of the^ 
amounts of money expended by each of the Southern 
states for the education of the colored children cannot 
be given, for the reason that in only two or three of 
these states are separate accounts kept of the moneys 
expended for colored schools. Since 1876 the Southern 
states have expended about $383,000,000 for public 
schools, and it is fair to estimate that between $75.,- 
000,000 and $80,000,000 of this sum must have been 
expended for the education of colored children. 

Illiteracy of the Colored Population. — What have 
the Negroes themselves accomplished to justify the 
generosity of the white people of the South and the 
benevolence of the people of the North? It may be said 
that in i860 the colored race was totally illiterate. In 
1870 more than 85 per cent, of the colored population of 
the South, ten years of age and over, could not read 
and write. In 1880 the per cent, of illiterates had been 
reduced to 75, and in 1890 the illiterates comprised 
about 60 per cent, of the colored population ten years 
of age and over. In several of the Southern states the 
percentage is even below 50 per cent. In the states 
where the colored population is greatest in proportion 
to the total population, or where such colored popula- 
tion is massed, as in the black belt" of South Caro- 
lina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, 
there the per cent, of illiteracy is highest. 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 325 

Illiteracy Disappearing. — In thirty years 40 per cent, 
of the ilHteracy of the colored race had disappeared. 
In education and in industrial progress this race had 
accomplished more than it conld have achieved in 
centuries in a different environment, without the aid 
of the whites. The Negro has needed the example as 
well as the aid of the white man. In sections where the 
colored population is massed and removed from contact 
with the whites, the progress of the Negro has been 
retarded. He is an imitative being, and has a constant 
desire to attempt whatever he sees the white man do. 
He believes in educating his children, because he can 
see that an increase of knowledge will enable them to 
better their condition. 

Secondary and Higher Education. — There are in 
the United vStates 162 institutions for the secondary and 
higher education of the colored race. Six of these 
schools are not located within the boundaries of the 
former slave states. Of the 162 institutions, 32 are of 
the grade of colleges, 73 are classed as normal schools, 
and the remaining 57 are of secondary or high school 
grade. While all these schools teach pupils in the ele- 
mentary studies, they also carry instructions beyond 
the common school branches. State aid is extended to 
35 of the 162 institutions, and 18 of these are wholly 
supported by the states in which they are established. 
The remaining schools are supported wholly or in part 
by benevolent societies and from tuition fees. In these 
schools were employed 1,549 teachers, 711 males and 
838 females. The total number of students was 
37,102; of these 23,420 were in elementary grades, 
11,724 in secondary grades, and 1,958 were pursuing 
collegiate studies. Of the 13,682 students in secondary 
and higher grades, there were 990 in classical courses, 



326 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

8ii in scientific courses, 295 in business courses, and 
9,331 in English courses. 

Teachers. — There were 4,514 colored students study- 
ing to become teachers, 1,902 males and 2,612 females. 
Many of these students were included among those 
pursuing the English and other courses. 

High Schools, — The number of students graduating 
from high school courses was 649, the number of males 
being 282 and the number of females 367. There were 
844 graduates from normal courses, 357 males and 487 
females. The niuuber of college graduates was 186, 
the number of males being 151 and the number of 
females 35. 

Professions. — There were 1,166 colored students 
studying learned professions, 1,028 males and 138 
females. Of the professional students 585 were study- 
ing theology, 310 medicine, 55 law, 45 pharmacy, 25 
dentistry, and 8 engineering. The 138 female students 
were receiving professional training for nurses. There 
were 42 graduates in theology, 67 in medicine, 21 in law, 
2 in dentistry, 16 in pharmacy, and 25 in nurse train- 
ing. 

Industrial Training. — The importance of industrial 
training is almost universally recognized by teachers of 
the colored race, and the Negroes themselves are be- 
ginning to see its value. There are about 13,000 
pupils receiving industrial training in the schools. 

Industrial Schools. — ''Talks for the Times" says: 
"The wisdom and foresight in the establishment of these 
industrial departments are apparent. We cannot all be 
teachers and preachers and lawyers and doctors. This 
has never been the condition of any people, and the 
colored people are no exception. Somebody must push 
the saw and drive the plane. Somebody must plow. 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 327 

There mtist be somewhere among us a strong, intelli- 
gent, virtuous middle class, the salt of society in all 
ages. Moreover, the demand for skilled labor becomes 
more and more imperative, and, unless the ranks of the 
colored mechanics and artisans can be recruited from 
these schools, or some other schools, if you please, with 
workmen of higher intelligence, the South will be 
flooded with foreigners to meet the demand. This, of 
course, would be bad for the Negro, but perhaps worse 
for the South and the nation ; for, with Europe in her 
present condition, an influx of foreigners may be accom- 
panied by an influx of dangerous isms — Fenianism and 
Socialism and Communism and Nihilism, and all those 
isms. whose arguments in the settlement of social ques- 
tions are dynamite and assassination. Surely, then, it is 
as politic as it is provident in the leaders of our educa- 
tional work in the South to guard against this train of 
evils by educating and training for the management of 
our ever-increasing industries a people born to the soil, 
a people whose characteristics, tested during two cen- 
turies and a half, have been found to be love, affection, 
gentleness, fidelity, forgiveness, and whose only crime 
has been the color of their skin. This, then, in brief, 
is what the Christian church has done and is doing 
for us. ' ' 

Industrial Education. — Industrial education is gain- 
ing many friends all through the Southland, and while 
there are multitudes who speak in praise of the indus- 
trial schools of the South there are others who" object 
to the methods pursued. 

' ' Industrial training, ' ' says President Mitchell, of the 
Leland University, New Orleans, "is good and useful to 
some persons if they can afford time to take it, but in its 
application to the Negro several facts should be clearly 

22 Progress 



328 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

understood. It is a mistake to suppose that industrial 
education can be applied to the beg-inning of school 
life ; it is not possible or desirable to train large bodies 
of youth to superior industrial skill without a basis of 
sound elementary education. You cannot polish a brick- 
bat, and you cannot make a good workman of a planta- 
tion Negro or a white ignoramus until you first wake 
up his mind, and give him the mental discipline and 
knowledge that come from a good school. Industrial 
training is expensive of time and money, as compared 
with its results as a civilizer. When you have trained 
one student you have simply fitted one man to any ordi- 
nary living. When ygu have given a college education 
to a luan with brains it is sending forth an instrument 
that will fit hundreds and thousands. Again, industrial 
training is liable to divert attention from the real aim and 
end of education, which is manhood. Lastly, the industri-. 
al schools of the South seem to show that even their 
students are not proficient. Of i8 colored schools in 
which industrial instruction is given, such as carpentry, 
tinning, painting, plastering, shoemaking, tailoring, 
blacksmithing, farming, gardening, etc., having 1243 
graduates, there are found to be only 12 farmers, 2 
mechanics, i carpenter. 

The employments of the graduates were : Teachers, 
693; ministers, 117; xDhysicians, 163; lawyers, 116; 
editors, 5; merchants, 15; U. S. government service, 
36, etc. 

We take the following extracts from an address 
delivered by Booker T. Washington, ' principal of the 
Tuskegce Normal and Industrial Institute: 

Advantages. — Industrial training, combined with 
the mental and religious training, has several emphatic 
advantages. Few of the young men and women who 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 329 

came to us were able to remain in school during the 
nine months and pay in cash the $8 per month charged 
for board. Through our industries we give them the 
chance of working out a part of their board, and the 
remainder they pay in cash. 

Respect for Labor. — Industrial training gives to stu- 
dents the respect and love for labor, helps them to get 
rid of the idea so long prevalent in the South that labor 
with the hands is rather degrading, and this feeling is 
not altogether original with the black men of the South. 
The fact that a man goes into the world with the con- 
sciousness that he has within him the power to make a 
wagon or a house gives him a certain moral backbone 
and independence in the world. At the head of each 
industrial department there is a competent instructor, so 
that the student is not only learning the practical work 
but is taught as well the underlying principles. When 
the student is through with brick masonry he not only 
understands the trade in a practical way, but also 
mechanical and architectural training to such an extent 
that he can become a leader in this industry. 

Leaders. — In everything done, in literature, religion 
and industrial training, the question kept constantly 
before us all is that the institution exists for the pur- 
pose of training a certain number of picked leaders who 
will go out and reach the masses, and show them how 
to lift themselves up. It must be remembered that 85 
per cent, of the colored people in the South live in the 
country districts, where they are difficult to reach 
except by special effort. 

Importance. — The question is often asked me, why 
is it important to emphasize industrial education in the 
South, especially among the colored people? Let me 
try to give the answer. For three hundred years the 



330 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

influence of slavery had the effect to educate the white 
man and black man away from loving labor. The 
white man's aim was to have the Negro perform the 
labor, and the Negro's aim was to escape as much of it 
as possible. Then all the conditions that surrounded 
slavery made intelligent labor impossible. Under such 
circumstances no class in the South was trained to dig- 
nify labor, to look upon it as something ennobling, but 
the reverse. In addition, slavery left 4,000,000 slaves 
and twice as many whites practically empty handed so 
far as material and industrial possessions were con- 
cerned. 

Not Limited Mental Development. — Confining the 
discussion now to the nearly 8,000,000 of Negroes in 
the South, let any one come into the South and go into 
the country districts especially, where 85 per cent of 
our people live, and a few cardinal needs will at once 
become evident — ownership of land, proper food, shel- 
ter, clothing, habits of thrift, economy, and something 
provident for a rainy day. Since these are emphatic 
needs, is it not common sense as well as logic to direct 
a large proportion of our educational force along lines 
that soonest cure these very needs? Too often when 
the object of industrial education for the black man is 
mentioned, some get the idea that industrial education 
is a synonym for a limited mental development. This 
is not true. This important question should not be 
befogged by any such argument. It requires as much 
brain power to build a Corliss engine as to write a Greek 
grammar. I would say to the Negro boy what I would 
say to any boy — get all the mental development possi- 
ble ; but I would also say to a large proportion of the 
black boys and girls, and would emphasize it for the 
next fifty years or longer, that, either at the same time 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 331 

that the literary training is being got, or after it is got, 
they should devote themselves to the mastery of some 
industry. 

Look at Facts. — Praise is good for a race as for an 
individual, but flattery is not good for either. To tell 
us as a race that our condition is now the same as that 
of any other race, and that our training at present 
should not differ from that of other races, is to tell us 
something that makes the average black man feel good, 
but it is not telling him that which is true, nor that 
which on the long run will benefit him most. It is far 
better for us as a race to look facts honestly in the face 
— to recognize that three hundred years of slave labor 
and ignorance have left our condition far from being 
the same — and apply the remedy accordingly. In our 
education of the black man so far, we have failed in a 
large degree to educate along the very line in which most 
of the colored people especially need help. At least 
85 per cent, of our people in the South depend on agricul- 
ture in some form for their living, and yet, aside from 
what has been done at the Hampton Institute in 
Virginia, the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, and two 
or three other institutions, almost no attention has been 
given to providing first-class training in agriculture, 
dairying, hortic^^lture, poultry raising, and stock raising. 
We have given colored men the highest training in 
theology, medicine, law, oratory, the classics, etc., and 
this is right. The colored boy has been taken from the 
farm and taught astronomy ; how to locate Jupiter and 
Mars, how to measure Venus — taught about everything 
except that which he depends upon for daily bread. 
The great problem now is, how to get the masses to the 
point where they can be sure of a comfortable living 
and be prepared to save a little something each year. 



EDUCATIO /IPROVEMENT. 333 

This can be accomplished only by putting among the 
masses as fast as possible strong, well-trained leaders 
in the industrial walks of life. 

Ennobling Labor. — Objection is sometimes waged 
against pushing industrial education for the Negro, on 
the ground that the Negro has had a training in work 
for three hundred years, and does not need help along 
that line. Right here the mistake is made. Industrial 
education, so far from teaching an individual how to 
work, teaches him how not to work — teaches him how 
to make the forces of nature work for him, to lift labor 
up out of toil and drudgery into the atmOvSphere where 
labor is ennobled, beautified and glorified. Industrial 
education is meant to take the boy who has been follow- 
ing an old mule behind a plow, making corn at the rate 
of ten bushels an acre, and set him upon a machine, 
under an umbrella, behind two fine horses, so that he 
can make four times as much corn as by the old process, 
and with less labor. Without industrial education, 
when the black woman washes a shirt, she washes it 
with both hands, both feet and her whole body. An 
individual with industrial education will use a machine 
that washes ten times as many shirts in a given time, 
with almost no expenditure of physical force — steam, 
electricity, or water power doing the work. It is safe 
to say that 90 per cent, of the colored people, as is per- 
haps true of most races, depend for their living on the 
common occupations of life. Since this is true, it seems 
to me that it is part of wisdom to give much attention 
to fitting these masses to do an ordinary task in an 
extraordinary way. 

High Forms of Labor. — For want of the highest intel- 
ligence and skill, the Negroes' labor is confined to what 
is termed the lower forms of labor. We must not only 



334 PROGRE^ RACE. 

teach the Negro to improve the methods of perfonning 
what is now classed as the lower forms of labor, but the 
Negto must be put in a position, by the use of intelli- 
gence and skill, to take his part in the higher forms of 
labor, up in the regions where the profit appears. 
When it comes to the production of cotton, for example, 
the Negro is the main factor; when it comes to the 
working of this cotton up into the finer fabrics, 
where the profit appears, the Negro disappears as a 
factor. This defect can be remedied only by tea,ching 
the Negro that a man with the highest education can 
make his life useful by giving the race the benefit of his 
training along the lines of agricultiire, dairying, horti- 
culture, laundering, and manufacture in its various 
forms. If the educated men of the race do not come to 
the rescue of the masses along these industrial lines, the 
Negro, instead of being the soul and the center of im- 
portant industries, will be relegated to the ragged edge. 
Slowly the colored mechanics, who received their train- 
ing in slavery, are dying, and their places are being 
filled with white men of skill and intelligence. At 
present, the colored man in the Gulf states has a 
monopoly of the skilled labor, but he will not hold it 
many years unless he has men of his own race who can 
not only perform the mechanical work, but can draw 
the plans and make estimates on large and compli- 
cated jobs. 

Value of Culture. — In thus pleading the importance 
of industrial training for our people, I have often been 
criticised and misunderstood, because I seem to over- 
look the ethical, religious side, or seern to underesti- 
mate the value of culture. I do not overlook the 
value of these elements, for they are as valuable for 
the Negro as for any race ; but it is a pretty hard thing 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 335 



to give a man much culture when he has no house to 
live in, and it is equally hard to make a good Christian 
of a hungry man. I claim for the Negro all the rights 
and privileges enjoyed by any other race, but also 
maintain that we must have a foundation on which to 
rest our claims. Nothing will so soon cause prejudice 
against the Negro to disappear as industrial or com- 
mercial development, ownership of property; the 
production of that which others must buy, soon results 
in an individual's securing all his rights; and the same 
is equally true of a race. 

Here at the Tuskegee Institute, with its 25 indus- 
tries, 800 students, 78 instructors, we are doing all we 
can to send out a constant stream of young men who 
go as leaders to put in force the very ideas that I have 
tried to mention. Had we the means we could make 
our work 50 per cent, more potent. Any American 
who wants to do the most toward producing good citi- 
zenship should see that such a movement as is now on 
foot at Tuskegee does not suffer, as it is now suffering, 
for want of money. 

Friction. — Whatever friction exists between the 
black man and white man in the South will disappear 
in proportion as the black man, by reason of his intel- 
ligence and skill, can create something that the white 
man wants or respects; can make something, instead 
of all the dependence being on the other side. Despite 
all her faults, when it comes to business pure and 
simple, the South presents the opportunity to the 
Negro for business that no other section of the country 
does. The Negro can sooner conquer Southern prej- 
udice in the civilized world than learn to compete 
with the North in the business world. In field, in 



336 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

factory, in the markets, the South presents a better 
opportunity for the Negro to earn a living than is 
found in the North. A young man educated in head, 
hand and heart, goes out and starts a brickyard, a 
blacksmith shop, a wagon shop, or an industry by 
which that black boy produces something in the com- 
munity that makes the white man dependent on the 
black man for something — produces something that in- 
terlocks, knits the commercial relations of the races 
together, to the extent that a black man gets a mort- 
gage on a white man's house that he can foreclose at 
will; well, the white man won't drive the Negro away 
from the polls when he sees him going up to vote. 
There are reports to the effect that in some sections 
the black man has difficulty in voting and having 
counted the little white ballots which he has the privi- 
lege of depositing about twice in two years, but there 
is a little green ballot that he can vote through the 
teller's window three hundred and thirteen days in every 
year, and no one will throw it out or refuse to count 
it. Tlie man that has the property, the intelligence, 
the character, is the one that is going to have the 
largest share in controlling the government, whether 
he is white or black, or whether in the North or South. 
Privileges of the Law. — It is important that all the 
privileges of the law be ours. It is vastly more impor- 
tant that we be prepared for the exercise of these 
privileges. Says the great Teacher: "I will draw all 
men unto me." How? Not by force, not by law, not 
by superficial glitter. Following in the tracks of the 
lowly Nazarene, we shall continue to work and wait, 
till by the exercise of the higher virtues, by the prod- 
ucts of our brains and hands, we make ourselves so 
valuable, so attractive to the American nation, that 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 837 

instead of repelling we shall draw men to us because of 
our intrinsic worth. It will be needless to pass a law to 
compel men to come into contact with a Negro who is 
educated and has $200,000 to lend. In some respects it 
is already acknowledged that as a race we are more 
powerful, have a greater power of attraction, than the 
Anglo-Saxon race. It takes 100 per cent, of Anglo- 
Saxon blood to make a white American. The minute 
that it is proved that a m.an possesses one one-hundredth 
part of Negro blood in his veins it makes him a black 
man; he falls to our side; we claim him. The 99 per 
cent, of white blood counts for nothing when weighed 
beside i per cent of Negro blood. 

Mistakes. — None of us will deny that immediately 
after freedom we made serious mistakes. We began at 
the top. We made these mistakes, not because we were 
black people, but because we were ignorant and inex- 
perienced people. We have spent time and money 
attempting to go to congress and state legislatures that 
could have better been spent in becoming the leading 
real estate dealers or carpenters in our own country. We 
have spent time and money in making political stump 
speeches and in attending political conventions that 
could better have been spent in starting a dairy farm or 
truck garden, and thus have laid a material foundation, 
on w^hich we could have stood and demanded our rights. 
When a man eats another person's food, wears another's 
clothes, and lives in another's house, it is pretty hard 
to tell how he is going to vote or whether he votes 
at all. 

Men may make laws to hinder and fetter the ballot, 
but men cannot make laws that will always bind or 
retard the growth of manhood : 



338 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

"Fleecy locks and black complexion 
Cannot forfeit Nature's claim; 
Skins may differ, but affection 
Dwells in white and black the same." 

Progress.— We went into slavery Pagans, we came 
out Christians. We went into slavery a piece of prop- 
erty, we came out American citizens. We went into 
slavery without a language, we came out speaking the 
proud Anglo-Saxon tongue. We went into slavery 
with the slave chains clanking about our waists, we 
came out with the American ballot in our hands. Prog- 
ress is the law of nature ; under God it shall be our 
eternal guiding star. ' ' 

A New Nation.— A new nation, says President 
Mitchell, has now come upon the stage. Eight millions 
of people have been thrust into the center of our civi- 
lization. They have been endowed with citizenship, 
with all its responsibilities, with all its possibilities for 
good or evil. They constitute about one-eighth part of 
our body politic. Among them is over one-third of the 
Baptist denomination of this country. Shall they be 
educated? Can we afford to leave one stone unturned, 
one agency unemployed, which might lead this mighty 
force out of the slough of ignorance and poverty and 
vice and into the plane of Christian manhood and use- 
ful citizenship? There can be but one answer to this 
question. If we have any regard for our brethren in 
Christ Jesus; if we have any loyalty to our great 
Baptist brotherhood, we can not withhold any possible 
facility for that self -improvement of which, through no 
fault of their own, they have for centuries been depriv- 
ed. It goes without saying that education is what they 
need— education, moral, intellectual, physical. 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 339 

Primary, Industrial and Higher Education. — 

Mr. Fortune says: "I do not hesitate to say that if 
the vast sums of money already expended, and now 
being spent, in the equipment and maintenance of col- 
leges and universities for the so-called higher education 
of colored youths, had been expended in establishing 
and m.aintaining primary schools and schools of applied 
science, the race would have profited vastly more than 
it has, both mentally and materially, while the result 
would have operated more advantageously to the states, 
and satisfactorily to the munificent benefactors. I do 
not inveigh, against higher education. I simply main- 
tain that the sort of education that the colored people 

of the South stand most in need of is elementary and 
industrial. ' ' 

Normal Schools for colored teachers must be estab- 
lished and maintained, until all schools can be provided 
with colored teachers who are thoroughly trained, and 
who will live in the communities for whom they teach, 
and who will in every way be united in interest with 
the pupils and patrons whom they serve. Aside from 
these peculiarities, the school education of the Negro in 
the South seems to me to present no new or difficult 
educational problem. In like manner I see no reason 
why he may not be allowed or required to construct for 
himself, apart from the white race, his family, church 
and civil society ; but it is well to be remembered that 
he can do these well only after he has had guaranteed 
to him his privileges as component part of the state. 
The property of the state — of the white man and the 
black man alike — must be pledged to the equal educa- 
tion of the children of both; and I myself should not 
in the least object if this principle should be interpreted 
to have a national application. 



340 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

The State Superintendent of Mississippi reports 
there is not a white teacher in the colored schools of 
the state, and this is substantially true of every state 
in the South. The entire public school system for the 
Negro is carried on by Negro teachers In Mississippi 
there are over 600 colored teachers who hold first grade 
certificates; these teachers are examined by a white 
board, and have just the same questions that the white 
teachers have. Virginia reports 700, North Carolina 
761, Arkansas 500; Texas, with a different method of 
classification, reports 1,900. Of 19 colored teachers 
in an institute, 18 were found to be college graduates, 
while in an adjoining county, in a white institute, with 
37 in attendance, there were only about one-fourth of 
them college graduates. 

Color-Intellect. — If color has anything to do with 
intellect, it should appear when the two colors or races 
are brought into contact and competition. After a care- 
ful inquiry the almost universal opinion is that there is 
no difference of mental ability between the races where 
the same privileges have been enjoyed. If they have 
come from ignorant districts and dark surroundings, 
their intellect is inferior to those who come from culti- 
vated homes, although it is frequently found the 
greatest ignorance of the former counterbalances this 
ability. 

One-Room Cabins. — The Southern Negroes are not 
all living in one-room cabins, of which we have heard 
much recently. There are beautiful and pleasant 
homes owned by Negroes in New Orleans. There are 
plenty of ex-slaves in Louisiana that are richer now 
than their former masters. There are over 300,000 
homes and farms owned by Negroes in the South. Six 
years ago Southern Negroes were paying taxes on 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 341 

nearly $300,000,000. The white Baptists of the South 
had church property worth $18,000,000, the accumula- 
tion of 200 years. The Negro Baptists at the same 
time (only twenty-six years out of slavery) had acquired 
church property of over $9,000,000. 

President Gates says: " My observation leads me to 
believe that the proportion of truly successful men, 
tried by the highest standards of success, among the 
colored men who study in our Northern colleges is 
quite as great as is the proportion of successful men 
among the whites who have the same, or equally good, 
opportunities for an education. ' ' 

Industrial Training. — Since industrial training has 
become so prominent in some of the schools of the 
South, it seems that other educational circles are not in 
sympathy with the idea of making industrial schools 
the prominent school of the South. A crisis in the prog- 
ress of Negro education has been reached. A new 
generation of educated youth, wiser than their parents, 
wiser than their ministers, approaching manhood and 
womanhood, are ready to take control of affairs and of 
public sentiment. They already know the difference 
between learning and ignorance, between religion and 
superstition. They have no knowledge of slavery. 
The fact that less than one thousand of the whole South 
are in collegiate study is to be accounted for not by want 
of capacity for higher studies, but for want of motive. 
Education costs them a great deal. Nearly every one 
earns every dollar which he pays for his learning. With 
most it has been a great struggle to reach the point of 
normal graduation, and then the best salary for teaching 
at present available is open to them. Every influence 
urges them to stop here and reap the fruits of their 
hard-earned attainment. Some have brothers and 



342 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



sisters to educate, annd some must stay at home to earn 
the money. Others have mothers and fathers who are 
struggling with poverty and debt. All this tends to 










REV. D. J. SANDERS, D. D. 

President of Biddle University, Charlotte, N. C. 
keep them from finishing a course in a higher institu- 
tion. 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 343 

Economic Condition. — Dr. J. M. Curry, Secretary of 
Trustees of Slater Fund, says: "The economic condi- 
tion is a serious drawback to mental and moral progress. 
Want of thrift, frugality, foresight, skill, right notions, 
of consumption of property, right to acquire and hold 
property, has made the race the victim and prey of 
usurers and extortioners. The Negro rarely accumu- 
lates, for he does not keep his savings, nor put them 
into permanent and secure investments. While it is 
true that a limited number of colored people are becom- 
ing wealth)^, it is equally true that the masses have 
made but little advancement in acquiring property 
during their thirty years of freedom. On the great 
plantations the majority live in one-room cabins, taber- 
nacling in them as tenants at will. The poverty, wretch- 
edness, hopelessness of the present life are sometimes 
in pitiable contrast to the freedom from care and 
anxiety, the cheerfulness and frolicsomeness of ante- 
bellum days. * ' 

Mr. Bryce, the most philosophical and painstaking of 
all foreign students of our institutions, in the last edi- 
tion of his great work, says: "There is no ground for 
despondency to any one who remembers how hopeless 
the extinction of slavery seemed fifty or even forty 
years ago, and who marks the progress the Negroes 
have made since their sudden liberation. Still less is 
there reason for impatience, for questions like this have 
in some countries of the old world required ages for 
their solution. The problem which confronts the South 
is one of the great secular problems of the world, pre- 
sented here under a form of peculiar difficulty. And as 
the present differences between the African and the 
European are the products of thousands of years, during 
which one race was advancing in the temperate, and 

23 Progress 



344 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

the other remaining stationary in the torrid, zone, so 
centuries may pass before their relation as neighbors 
and fellow-citizens have been duly adjusted. It would 
be unjust and illogical to push too far the comparison 
and deduce inferences unfair to the Negro, but it is an 
interesting coincidence that Japan began her entrance 
into the family of civilized nations almost contempo- 
raneously with emancipation in the United States. ' ' 

A Colored Teacher says: "I can do my people more 
good than I am doing now, if you will let me devote 
two afternoons of the week teaching them to sew. 
They come to school untidy ; their garments are torn ; 
their sleeves are out at the elbow ; they represent the 
condition of their homes largely. Now, if you will let 
me teach these young girls to sew, I can teach them 
to be ashamed to come to school with torn clothes, and 
I believe that by doing this I will influence the lives of 
these people at their homes, and thereby do much 
more than I am now doing. ' * 

* * Well, this is the key to it. The young woman who 
teaches the country school should be something more to 
the community than a teacher of letters to the children. 
She should be a person who would teach the entire com- 
munity, either directly or indirectly, in many of the 
simpler home arts, those arts that are taught in all 
cultivated homes, white or colored. A school thus 
presided over would do much more good than is now 
done by the ordinary school of letters, and would 
accomplish, I believe, at the same time better scholastic 
results ; for who does not know that, other things being 
equal, the best scholastic results are reached by men of 
affairs. 

Many-Sided. — T. Thomas Fortune says: "There are 
so many sides to a race problem nearly 300 years old, 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 345 

only thirty-two years of which has been worked out 
under conditions of freedom, that a reasonable amount 
of conservatism should govern all those who undertake 
to discuss any phase of it. The Afro- American prob- 
lem is such a one. Slavery was a hard school in many 
respects ; freedom is a harder one. 

Effects of Slavery. — Slavery destroys entirely the 
self-dependence and reliance of the slave ; and when he 
has had 255 years of slave education and only thirty-two 
of freedom education to offset it, it is not ease to 
determine just what is best for him, to prepare him for 
the responsibilities of manhood and citizenship. 

Poor and Ignorant. — When slavery was abolished 
the 4,000,000 people who came out of the house of 
bondage possessed, in the main, no book education 
whatever. They were equally destitute of moral and 
spiritual education. They possessed no self-reliance. 
They were poor in head and heart and purse. They 
were compelled to begin at the bottom and build from 
the ground up in all the essentials that make for char- 
acter and worth. They had no leaders, no teachers, to 
guide them out of the shadows into the sunlight of 
freedom. If they had been left to their own devices, 
they would have gone to pieces; they would have 
justified the doleful predictions of those who insisted 
that they were destitute of the common attributes of 
human kind. 

Not Left Alone. — But they were not left to their 
own devices. The friends who had fought their battles 
when they were slaves remained constant to them when 
they were turned loose upon the land with freedom as 
their whole stock in trade. As the flower of the 
Northern manhood had poured out its life's blood on 
the battlefield to save the Union and crush the slave 



346 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

power through four years of war, making desolate 
thousands upon thousands of homes, so, in the wake of 
the vanishing Northern army, there followed an army 
of Northern women, and a few men, imbued with the 
finest missionary spirit that ever actuated human beings, 
who planted schools and seminaries and colleges on 
the ruins of the war, and began the completion of the 
work where their brothers and fathers and husbands 
had left it off at Appomattox Court House, when 

' The war drums throbbed no longer, and the battle flags 

were turl'd, 
In the Parliament of man, The Federation of the world. ' 

Tribute to Northern Women. — Without the work 
of these Northern women in the schoolhouses and the 
churches and the homes of the freed men, the sacrifices 
of their male relatives in the war would have been in 
vain. The brave soldier laid the foundation when he 
achieved the freedom of the blacks ; his sister built 
upon the foundation a superstructure of mental and 
moral training which will abide and influence the desti- 
nies of the republic as long as the Afro- American shall 
remain an indivisible factor of our national life. The 
public school systems of the Southern states owe their 
origin to the devoted efforts and sacrifices of the 
Northern men and women who flocked into the South 
when the war closed, and who remained there as long 
as their services were needed. 

Imperishable Monuments. — All the colleges and 
seminaries scattered all over the South, devoted to the 
higher education of the manumitted slave, were founded 
and fostered by the same devoted spirits. They will 
stand through the ages as imperishable monuments, 
living witnesses that selfishness is not always the con- 
trolling influence in the conduct of mankind. The vast 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 347 

volume of energy and wealth lavished by the North upon 
the education of the f reedmen of the South was a service 
to humanity and to the republic which can yield no 
return to the benefactors save the satisfaction of having 
done their duty. ' ' 

Opinions. — Dr. Curry truly says: "Whatever may 
be our speculative opinions as to the progress and 
development of which the Negro may be ultimately 
capable, there can hardly be a well-grounded opposition 
to the opinion that the hope for the race in the South 
is to be found not so much in the high courses of 
university instruction or in schools of technology as in 
handicraft instructions. 

Conclusions. — i . It follows that in addition to 
thorough and intelligent training in the discipline of 
character and virtue, there should be given rigid and 
continuous attention to domestic and social life, to the 
refinement and comforts and economies of home. 

2. Taught in the economies of wise consumption, the 
race should be trained to acquire habits of thrift, of 
saving earnings, of avoiding waste, of accumulating 
property, of having a stake in good government, in pro- 
gressive civilization. 

3. Besides the rudiments of a good and useful educa- 
tion there is imperative need of manual training, of the 
proper cultivation of those faculties or mental qualities 
of observation, of aiming at and reaching a successful 
end, and of such facility and skill in tools, in practical 
industries, as will insure remunerative employment and 
give the power which comes from intelligent work. 

4. Clearer and juster ideas of education, moral and 
intellectual, obtained in cleaner home life and through 
respected and capable teachers in schools and churches. 
The ultimate and only sure reliance for the education 



348 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

of the race is to be found in the public schools, organ- 
ized, controlled and liberally supported by the state. 

5. Between the races occupying the same territory, 
possessing under the law equal civil rights and privi- 
leges, speculative and unattainable standards should be 
avoided, and questions should be met as they arise, not 
by Utopian and partial solutions, but by the impartial 
applicationof the tests of justice, right, honor, humanity, 
and Christianity. ' ' 

Evolution, not Revolution. — The emergence of a 
nation from barbarism to a general diffusion of intelli- 
gence and property, to health in the social and civil 
relations; the development of an inferior race into a 
high degree of enlightenment , the overthrow of customs 
and institutions which, however indefensible, have their 
seat in tradition and a course of long observance; the 
working out satisfactorily of political, sociological and 
ethical problems, are all necessarily slow, requiring 
patient and intelligent study of the teachings of history 
and the careful application of something more than mere 
empirical methods. Civilization, freedom, a pure 
religion, are not the speedy outcome of revolutions and 
cataclysms any more than has been the structure of the 
earth. They are the slow evolution of orderly and 
creative causes, the result of law and pre-ordained 
principles. 

Five Great Institutions. — Now, there are, as we 
well know, five great institutions that are so distinctively 
educational that they must be taken into consideration 
in every attempt to educate the Negro. They are the 
family, the church, the state, civil society, and the 
school. The Negro needs the influence of the respon- 
sibilities and the privileges of all these five institutions. 
He must be taught the sacred character and educational 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 349 

value of the .family, and his ideals of this institution 
must be elevated and refined. No community — North 
South, East or West — having the Negro to educate, 
can afford to neglect this important matter, or so to 
treat him in any way that he shall fail of its high civiliz- 
ing influence. So of the church. Its theory of life, its 
view of the world and of the destiny of man, its method 
and practices, must all be made plain to him, and he 
must be taught to organize the church and must be 
allowed to carry it on in accordance with its sacred 
character. In like manner he must be taught to con- 
struct and carry on a civil society whose public opinion 
shall stand for purity, honesty and morality. Again, 
he must be allowed to take his rightful part in the 
responsibilities and the privijpges of the state ; for the 
institution of the state is little less educational than is 
the school itself. The state cannot afford to practice 
injustice upon even its poorest subject, lest it thus give 
him the ideal and the excuse for the practice of injustice 
himself. In all these respects the Negro is susceptible 
to the same general action and reaction of institutions 
as is the white man, and those who have his education 
in charge will succeed well or ill in proportion as they 
regard in these respects his human characteristics. 

Prof. Spence. — The- following is taken from an 
address delivered at an annual meeting of the Ameri- 
can Missionary Association, by Prof. A. K. Spence, 
Dean of Fisk University, after an experience of twenty- 
five years in Negro Education. 

Need and Fitness. — I am asked how the work of 
colored education looks to me after being engaged in 
it a quarter of a century. Just twenty-five years ago, 
after teaching twelve years in the University of Michi- 
gan, I went to Nashville, Tennessee, to help build up 



350 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Fisk University, the first established Negro college in 
the world, as far as is known. The venture seemed to 
many great, to most, perhaps, even rash. What need 
had a people jtist out of bondage of a college — what 
fitness for it? One little girl in the school could read 
eight or ten lines of easy Latin in a day. Nearly all 
the pupils were in primary grades of English studies. 
These studies still went on with the mass, while the 
few were carried toward college, and, in time, through 
it. 

No Mistake. — Was that early effort a mistake? Cer- 
tainly it was one of intense interest to those who made 
it. Like early navigators we were out on new seas of 
discovery. Would we come to the charmed circle 
beyond which the Negrocnind could not go? We would 
try, and when we came to that fatal place we would 
stop, not sooner. There may be some question of 
relative speed in advancement, but we never came to 
that stopping place. For twenty years now college 
classes have been graduated with a fairly high standard 
of scholarship, making in all a total of nearly one hun- 
dred and fifty, not to mention an equal number of 
graduates from the normal course, and several in the- 
ology and music. Three hundred graduates as the 
result of thirty years of labor, beginning at the zero 
point in 1865, seems to me a large result. Besides this, 
great numbers have been educated in the institution 
who do not coniplete a course, but have been fitted 
to do much good among their people. 

Question Settled. — By this experiment certainly 
one thing has been settled — the ability of a goodly num- 
ber of those of the colored race to receive what is called 
a liberal education. A person who denies that shows a 
lack of intelligence on the subject. 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 351 

But the possibility granted, the utility of this educa- 
tion is doubted both as to the individual and as to the 
race. First, then, as to the individual, aside from the 
mere mercantile advantage derived from education, 
does not the hunger of the Negro mind for knowledge 
prove its right to know, its capacity show that it should 
be filled, its longing that it should be satisfied ? 
And as to the race at large, does it not need within it 
men and women of education? How would it be with 
us of the white race if we had none such with us — no 
educated ministers, doctors, lawyers, teachers, profes- 
sors, writers, thinkers? All the preaching to eight mil- 
lions of people in the United States is done by colored 
preachers, with the merest exceptions here and there. 
Do these Negroes not need preparation for their vastly 
responsible calling? The entire work of instruction 
in the colored public schools of the South is done by 
colored teachers. 

These teachers cannot be prepared in the white 
schools and colleges of the South. Where, then, shall 
they be prepared, if not in special higher institutions of 
learning open to them? What is to become of the mil- 
lions of colored people in the United States. 

Leaders. — Who are to be their leaders? Doubtless 
persons of their own race. Do they need less prepara- 
tion for their calling than do members of the white 
race for theirs? Is not their task even more difficult? 
Have they not questions of greater intricacy to solve? 
Did not Moses when leading ex-slaves out of Egypt 
need special wisdom? Are not the colored people of 
today "perishing for lack of knowledge"? 

Education Required. — But the objector will say, Why 
have these long courses, these colleges for colored peo- 
ple? Would not shorter courses be as well or even better? 



352 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

The following is my belief on this point, after twenty- 
five years of thought and experience : If the Negro is 
equal to the white man in heredity and environment, he 
needs an equal chance in education; if he is superior, 
he can get on with less ; if he is inferior, he needs more. 
The education required is not simply that of books, but 
of life in Christian homes, such as are supplied in nearly 
all our missionary schools for that people, and of religion 
through the Christian church and its influences. 

Changed Condition. — In the city of Nashville we have 
now many most encouraging examples of the new colored 
South, not only in schools, but in neat and commodious 
houses, with the appointments of modem civilization in 
which refined manners prevail; libraries and instru- 
ments of music are found, and children are growing up 
like those in the better white families. There are already 
among the graduates of our colored institutions of learn- 
ing and others educated in them, able doctors, lawyers, 
ministers, teachers and men of business, who form a 
society but little known among many, who speak as by 
authority and say that the case of the Negro is hopeless. 
There was a club formed recently of men of that race 
who gather to discuss sociological questions as to health, 
thrift and general welfare pertaining to their people. 
It is in these things that the men who think are the 
men who do. Colleges and schools and churches are 
the nerve centers of the race. 

Meharry Medical College. — There is in Nashville a 
very successful colored medical college, the Meharry 
Medical, a department of the Central Tennessee Col- 
lege. A number of Fisk graduates have gone there for 
their medical education. The dean has informed me 
that they stand especially well because of their "college 
training." Many Fisk graduates choose the medical 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 



353 



profession, to which there is a great call in the needs of 
the colored people. Several of them have attended 
Northern medical colleges. One of these stood first in 
scholarship in a class of one hundred in the medical 
department of Harvard University. A fev^ are succeed- 
ing in law, but with greater difficulty. A dozen or more 
are ministers of the gospel, mostly in Congregational 
churches. The girl whom I found in 1870 reading daily 
a few lines of easy Latin, is now, after many years of 
teaching and having the care of a family, "Field Mis- 
sionary" for a large part of Tennessee under a board of 
Baptist women. 

Homes.— I wish I could take you to many homes in 
Nashville and elsewhere occupied by our graduates and 
former students. Say what you will as to the new white 
South, there certainly is a new colored South, one very 
interesting and hopeful, and much needing both our 
sympathy and aid. 

Slave Pen, Fort, College.— Where Fisk now stands 
in its beauty, a beacon of hope to a race, stood once a 
frowning fort, and before that a slave pen. When 
the Union troops took possession of Nashville, they girt 
it about with a series of fortifications filled with men 
and bristling with cannons, that swept the whole field 
of vision. Vast forces were concentrated in these forts. 
Areas outside were taken and retaken by the enemy, 
but these, never. Rejecting any idea of hostility, ex- 
cept to ignorance and sin, let us in our turn, at all 
hazards, hold these school fortifications ; hold these forts 
with men and women, and sympathy and prayer. Let 
this work of Christian patriotism go on. If we do not, 
God will require it at our hands or those of our children. 

Life Work.— I entered this work young. I come back 
to report upon it, old. If I had many lives, I would 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 355 

* 

give them over again to this cause. It is yet in its 
infancy, as human history goes. Already from the 
altars of our schools and churches many have lit their 
torches and carried them into the darkness, which now 
twinkles with its stars. The full day is not yet. We 
will not see it. But it will come. Let us be patient 
and full of courage. In one of the quaint songs of my 
people, for myself I can say, 'I ain't got weary yet.' " 

Early Schools. — As soon as any part of the seceding 
states was occupied by the Union army, efforts were at 
once begun to give the Negro some schooling. Sep- 
tember, 1 86 1, under the guns of Fortress Monroe, a 
school for the "Contrabands of War" was opened. 
In 1862 they were extended south to the Carolinas. 
The Proclamation of Emancipation in 1863 gave free- 
dom to all slaves reached by the armies, increased the 
refugees, and awakened an enthusiasm for meeting the 
physical, moral and intellectual needs of those suddenly 
thrown upon charity. The first public school for 
Louisiana was opened in October, 1863. 

General Eaton. — As early as 1861 schools were open- 
ed at Hampton, Virginia, near the spot where the first 
slaves were landed in 161 9. In 1863 there had collected 
in one place in Mississippi so many colored people eager 
to be taught that General Grant called to the charge of 
this work General John Eaton, who afterward was made 
United States Commissioner of Education. General 
Eaton served the freedmen from 1863 to 1865. He 
had under him at one time as many as 770,000 people. 
The wor^ which General Eaton did for the colored 
people was truly wonderful. One of the most creditable 
and noteworthy features of his work was»the fact that the 
colored people paid out of their own earnings for their 
education under him nearly a quarter of a million 
dollars. 



356 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

The Freedmen's Bureau. — By act of Congress, March 
3,1865, the Freedmen's Bureau was created. Its work 
extended far beyond education, embracing abandoned 
lands, and supplying the Negroes with food and cloth- 
ing. General Howard was appointed Commissioner, 
with assistants. The Bureau founded many schools in 
localities which had been in the line of the Union armies, 
and these with the others established by its agency, 
were placed under some systematic supervision. In 
some states schools were carried on entirely by aid of 
the funds of the Bureau, but it had the co-operation and 
assistance of several religious and benevolent societies. 
A full history of the Freedmen's Bureau would furnish 
an interesting chapter in Negro education. But it 
seems that no complete report can be given on account 
of the disordered state of the records. 

Assisting Agencies. — The Freedmen's Bureau was 
authorized to act in co-operation with religious and 
benevolent societies in the education of the Negro. A 
number of these organizations had done good service 
before the establishment of the Bureau, and continued 
their work afterwards. The teachers earliest in the 
field were from the American Missionary Association, 
Western Freedmen's Aid Commission, American 
Baptist Home Missionary Society, and the Society of 
Friends. After the surrender of Vicksburg others were 
sent by the United Presbyterians, Reformed Presby- 
terians, United Brethren of Christ, Northwestern 
Freedmen's Aid Commission, and the National Freed- 
men's Aid Association. The first colored school in 
Vicksburg was started by the United Brethren in the 
basement of a Methodist church. 

American Missionary Association. — The American 
Missionary Association was the chief body apart from 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 357 

the government in the great enterprise of meeting the 
needs of the Negroes. It did not reHnquish its philan- 
thropic work because army officers and the Federal 
government were working along the same line. Up to 
1866 its receipts were swollen by '*the aid of the Free 
Will Baptists, the Wesleyans, the Congregationalists, 
and Friends in Great Britain. ' ' From Great Britain it 
is estimated that "a million dollars in money and cloth- 
ing were contributed through various channels for the 
Freedmen. " The third decade of the association, 1867- 
1876, was a marked era in its financial history. The 
Freedmen 's Bureau turned over a large sum, which 
could be expended only in buildings. A Congressional 
report says that between December, 1866, and May, 
1870, the association received $243,753.22. Since the 
association took on a more distinctive and separate 
denominational character, because of the withdrawal of 
other denominations into associations of their own, it, 
along with its church work, has prosecuted, with una- 
bated energy and marked success, its educational work 
among the Negroes. 

Control and Support. — It has now under its control 
or support 78 schools, consisting of: Chartered institu- 
tions, 6; normal schools, 29; common schools, 43. In 
these schools are 389 instructors and 12,609 pupils. 
The pupils are classified as follows: Theological, 47; 
collegiate, 57; college preparatory, 192; normal, 1,091; 
grammar, 2,378; intermediate, 3,692; primary, 5,152. 

Two-fold Work. — The work of the association is 
among all kinds of people, from Florida to Alaska, 
education and evangelization going hand in hand. 

Its educational work stretches all the way from ele- 
mentary teaching in small schools through the various 
grades to large institutions for higher education. It 



358 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

always emphasizes self-help and self -education. , It 
everywhere provides for the industrial training of both 
boys and girls. 

Teachers. — A great share of its work consists in sup- 
plying hundreds of teachers every year for tens of 
thousands of pupils all through the needy rural com- 
munities of the South. It also has in training ministers 
who are rapidly developing churches and church mis- 
sions. During the last year forty new churches have 
been organized with over a thousand members. At 
the present time great demands come to it for mission 
work among the country districts of the South. Both 
our pastors and its teachers in the mountain fields 
report growth and a still more rapid increase of oppor- 
tunities for service. Indian schools and missions are 
being carried on with severe self-denial on account of 
the lessened resources. The woman's work continues 
its activities in co-operation with forty-two state organ- 
izations whose increased contributions last year amount- 
ed to over $29,000. 

Freedmen's Aid and Southern Society. — In 1866 
was organized the Freedmen's Aid and Southern Society 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Under that 
compact, powerful, well-disciplined, enthusiastic organ- 
ization more than $6,000,000 have been expended in 
the education of the Negroes. Dr. Hartzell, said before 
the World's Congress in Chicago, that Wilberforce 
University, at Xenia, Ohio, was established in 1857 as 
a college for colored people, and "continues to be the 
chief educational center of African Methodism in the 
United States. " He reports, as under various branches 
of Methodism, 65 institutions of learning, for colored 
people; 388 teachers; 10,100 students; $1,905,150 of 
property, and $652,500 of endowment. 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 359 

Baptist Home Missionary Society. — This society 
supports Spelman Seminary, Shaw University, Atlanta 
Baptist Seminary, and other schools, and has done a 
good work among the Negroes. 

Peabody Fund. — On February 6, 1867, George Pea- 
Dody gave to certain gentlemen $2,000,000 in 
trust, to be used "for the promotion of intellectual, 
moral or industrial education among the young of the 
more destitute portions of the Southwestern states of 
our Union. ' ' The fund now acts exclusively with state 
systems, and continues support to Negroes more 
efficiently through such agencies. To realize what it 
has accomplished is difficult — impossible unless we esti- 
mate sufficiently the obstacles and compare the facilities 
of today with the ignorance and bondage of a generation 
ago when some statutes made it an indictable offense to 
teach a slave or free person of color. The results have 
truly been remarkable. 

John F. Slater Fund. — In his letter establishing this 
trust is the following clause : "The general object which 
I desire to have exclusively pursued is the uplifting of 
the lately emancipated population of the Southern states 
and their posterity, by conferring on them the blessings 
of Christian education." This fund has been the 
potential agency in enlightening public opinion and in 
working out the problem of the education of the Negro. 
In view of the apprehensions felt by all thoughtful 
persons, when the duties and privileges of citizenship 
were suddenly thrust upon millions of lately emancipated 
slaves, Mr. Slater conceived the purpose of giving a 
large sum of money to their proper education. After 
deliberate reflection and much conference, he selected a 
board of trust, and placed in their hands $r, 000, 000. 
This unique gift, originating wholly with himself, and 

24 Progress 



y 



360 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

elaborated in his own mind in most of its details, was 
for ' ' the uplifting of the lately emancipated population 
of the Southern states and their posterity, by conferring 
on them the blessings of Christian education. " " Not 
only for their own sake, but also for the sake of our 
common country," he sought to provide "the means of 
such education as shall tend to make them good men 
and good citizens. ' ' 

Reflex Influence. — The reflex influence of Mr. 
Slater's beneficence, we are persuaded, has been great. 
We cannot estimate the good we do when we do 
good. The effect of this splendid beneficence in stimu- 
lating philanthropic enterprise, passing as it has into 
the currency of popular thought as a quickening inspir- 
ation, its impetus to the noble army of workers for the 
uplifting of the race, has been enormous. Its inspira- 
tion and influence upon this greatest decade of giving 
in all the history of the world has been immense, 
we are confident. Other millions have gotten into 
the wake of this one; and we believe that other 
men to whom God has given wealth, and into whose 
hearts the passion of the cross has been poured, are to 
be moved by it to the breaking of their costly boxes of 
alabaster in the presence of the world's Christ. Such 
men are, and are to be, the saving and enduring forces 
of the world. 

The following article, taken from the Independent 
of August 19, 1897, is commended to the reader. Its 
author's ability is well known. His opinions deserve 
consideration : 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 361 

THE PRIME NEED OF THE NEGRO RACE. 

BY ALEX. CRUMMELL, D. D. 

Late Rector of St. Luke's Protestant Episcopal Churchy 

lVashmgto7i, D. C, 

Incidents for Problems. — Unfortunately, men often 
misconceive some of the larger i?icidents of life for its 
problems, and thus, unconsciously, they hinder the prog- 
ress of the race. 

Just such a mistake, if I err not, has arisen with 
regard to the solution of the "Negro Problem" in the 
South. It may be seen in the divergence of two classes 
of minds: the one maintains that industrialism is the 
solution of the Negro problem ; and another class, while 
recognizing the need of industrial skill, maintains that 
culture is the true solution. 

Civilization. — The thing of magnitude in the South, 
all must admit, is the civilization of a new race. The 
question is, then, how is this civilization to be produced? 
Is industrialism the prime consideration? Is the Negro 
to be built up from the material side of his nature? 

Industrialism. — But industrialism is no new thing in 
Negro life in this country. It is simply a change in the 
old phase of Southern Society. It is, in fact, but an 
incident; doubtless a large, and in some respects, a 
vital one. It would be the greatest folly to ignore its 
vast importance. Yet it is not to be forgotten that the 
Negro has been in this "school of labor" under slavery 
in America, fully two hundred and fifty years; and 
every one knows that it has never produced his civiliza- 
tion. That it was crude, previous to emancipation ; that 
it is to be enlightened labor now, in a state of freedom, 
is manifestly but an alteration in the form of an old and 
settled order of life. 




S62 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 363 

New Problem. — When the Negro passed from tinder 
the yoke he left a state of semi-barbarism behind him, 
put his feet for the first time within the domain of 
civiHzation, and immediately there sprang up before 
him a new problem of life. But that problem is not 
industrialism. That is simply the modification of an 
old condition ; for it is but the introduction of intelli- 
gence into the crudeness of the old slave-labor system. 

A Question. — The other question, then, presents 
itself — is not the Negro's elevation to come from the 
quickening and enlightenment of his higher nature? Is 
it to come from below or from above? 

Higher Culture. — It seems manifest that the major 
factor in this work for the Negro is his higher culture. 
There is not dispute as to the need of industrialism. 
This is a universal condition of life everywhere. But 
there is not need of an undue and overshadowing exag- 
geration of it in the case of the Negro. 

A Result, not a Cause. — And, first of all, industrial- 
ism itself is a result in man's civilization, not a cause. 
It may exist in a people and with much excellence for 
ages, and still that people may ''lie in dull obstruction, " 
semi-barbarous and degraded. We see in all history 
large populations moving in all the planes of industrial 
life, both low and high, and yet paralyzed in all the high 
springs of action, and for the simple reason that the 
hand of man gets its cunning from the brain. And 
without the enlightened brain what is the hand of man 
more than the claw of a bird or the foot of a squirrel? 
In fine, without the enlightened brain, where is civili- 
zation. 

A New Factor. — The Negro race, then, needs a new 
factor for its life and being, and this new factor must 
come from a more vitalizing source than any material 



364 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

condition. The end of industrialism is thrift, prosperity 
or gain. But civilization has a loftier object in view. 
It is to make men grander ; it is to exalt them in the 
scale of being ; and its main energy to this end is the 
"higher culture." 

Greatness Comes from Altitudes. — Observe, then, 
just here, that "every good. gift and every perfect gift 
comes from above. ' ' I have no hesitation in using this 
text (albeit thus abbreviated) as an aphorism. And 
what I wish to say in its interpretation is this, viz. , that 
all the greatness of men comes from altitudes. All 
the improvement, the progress, the culture, the civili- 
zation of men come from somewhere above. They 
never come from below ! 

Culture of Human Society. — Just as the rains and 
dews come down from the skies and fall upon the hills and 
plains and spread through, the fields of earth with fertil- 
izing power, so, too, with the culture of human society. 
Some exalted man, some great people, some marvelous 
migration, some extraordinary and quickening culti- 
vation, or some divine revelation, "from above" must 
come to any people ere the processes of true and 
permanent elevation can begin among them. And this 
whole process I call civilization. 

A Heritage. — If a more precise and definite meaning 
to this word is demanded, I reply that I use it as 
indicative of letters, literature, science and philosophy. 
In other words, that this Negro race is to be lifted up to 
the acquisition of the higher culture of the age. This 
culture is to be made a part of its heritage ; not at some 
distant day, but now and all along the development of 
the race. And no temporary fad of doubting or pur- 
blind philanthropy is to be allowed to make "industrial 
training' ' a substitute for it. 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 365 

Leaders. — For, first of all, it is only a dead people 
who can be put into a single groove of life. And, next, 
every live people must have its own leaders as molders 
of its thought and determiners of its destiny ; men, too, 
indigenous to the soil in race and blood. 

Thought Makes the World. — It is thought that 
makes the world — high, noble, prophetic, exalted and 
exalting thought. It is this that makes races and 
nations, industries and trades, farming and commerce ; 
and not the reverse of this, i. e., that these make 
thought and civilization. And without thought, yea, 
scientific thought, peoples will remain everlastingly 
children and underlings, the mere tools and puppets of 
the strong. 

From the Schools. — And such thought, in these days, 
comes from the schools. The leaders of races must 
have wisdom, science, culture and philosophy. One 
such man has often determined the character and 
destiny of his race for centuries. 

Opened to the Negro Mind. — This does not mean 
that noodles and numbsktills shall be sent to college ; 
nor that every Negro shall be made a scholar ; nor that 
there shall be a waste of time and money upon inca- 
pacity. No one can make a thimble hold the contents 
of a bucket ! But what it does mean is this, that the 
whole world of scholarship shall be opened to the Negro 
mind ; and that it is not to be fastened, temporarily or 
permanently to the truck-patch or to the hoe, to the 
anvil or to the plane ; that the Negro shall be allowed 
to do his own thinking in any and every sphere, and not 
to have that thinking relegated to others. It means 
that when genius arises in this race and elects, with 
flaming torch, to push its way into the grand arcanum 
of philosophy or science or imagination, no bar shall 




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366 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 367 

be raised against its entrance ; albeit it be incarnated in 
a form deeply tinged with 

"The shadowed livery of the burnished sun." 

Conclusions. — I submit: 

1. That civilization is the foremost, deepest need of 
the Negro race. 

2. That the ** higher culture" is its grandest source. 

3. That the gift to the Negro of the scientific mind, 
by Fisk and Clark and Lincoln, and Oberlin and 
Howard and Yale, and Harvard and other colleges, is 
of the most incalculable value to the black race. 

United Action. — There is probably no dissent from 
the above opinion of Dr. Crummell. Even the leaders 
in industrial education have repeatedly declared them- 
selves in favor of the broadest culture possible. While 
there may be differences of opinion in the practical 
working, yet all are laboring diligently for the one great 
end — the elevation of the race. 

Educational Institutions. — It is impossible in the 
brief space allotted to us to make special mention of 
many of the excellent schools for the colored race. 
Some that are not mentioned we would have been 
glad to mention, but were unable to secure the need- 
ed information. This chapter is prepared at a 
time when the schools are closed. No doubt when 
the forms are closed much of the desired informa- 
tion will be at hand, too late to use. We have done the 
best with the facts at hand. 

In the last chapter will be found statistics of all 
schools of the colored race. 

Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute. — 

This institution was opened in April, 1868. In 1870 it 
was chartered by special act of the General Assembly 
of Virginia. It is not owned or controlled by state or 



368 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

government, but by a board of seventeen trustees, 
representing different sections of the country, and six 
religious denominations, no one of which has a 
majority. 

Object. — The object of its founders was to train 
selected Negro youth so that they could go out and teach 
and lead their people, first, by example, and by getting 
land and homes, to give them not a dollar they could 
earn for this, to teach respect for labor, to replace stupid 
drudgery with skilled hands, and to these ends to build 
up an industrial system for the sake not only of self- 
support and intelligent labor, but also for the sake of 
character. From the first it has been true to the idea 
of education by self-support. Nothing is asked for the 
student that he can provide by his own labor. 

Annual Cost. — The school is maintained at an annual 
cost of about $175,000; deducting the labor payments 
of Negro students, say $55,000, $120,000. This is pro- 
vided for in part by one-third of the amount allowed 
the state of Virginia under the Land Grant Act and the 
Morrill Act in aid of agricultural schools, by an appro- 
priation from Congress to pay the board, etc., of 120 
Indians, with aid from the Slater and Peabody funds. 
The large balance is met by contributions from friends 
of the Negro and Indian races. 

Valuation of Property. — The cost or the valuation 
of property owned by the institution is about $600,000. 
There are about fifty buildings. The home farm con- 
sists of 150 acres, the grass and dairy farm, four miles 
distant, 600 acres. Both are cultivated by students, 
and the products used or sold. 

Enrollment. — The enrollment for the years 1896 and 
1897 is as follows: Negro young men, 305; Negro 
young women, 187; making a total of 492. Indian 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 369 

young men, 87; Indian young women, 51; total, 138. 
Besides these there are 320 children in the Whittier 
School, or primary department, making a total of 950 
students, representing twenty states and territories. 

Teachers and Officers. — There are 80 teachers, 
officers, assistants and managers, about half of whom 
are in the industrial department. 

Girls' Industries. — Housework, laundering, sewing, 
tailoring, dressmaking, cooking, and training in the use 
of carpenter's tools. 

Boys' Industries. — Farming, carpentering, house 
painting, wheelwrighting, tailoring, harness making, 
printing, engineering, machine knitting, floriculture, 
and the machinists* trade. 

Graduates. — Nine-tenths of the 909 Negro graduates, 
besides many undergraduates, have done good work in 
teaching, and about three-fourths have made it their 
life work. They are also earnest workers in the Sun- 
day school, and in behalf of temperance. 

The thirty-thousand free Negro schools of the South 
need nothing so much as well-trained teachers. Vir- 
ginia's twenty-five hundred colored schools are not 
nearly supplied. No harvest field in the land, or in the 
world, is more urgent than this. 

Trade Schools. — The need of a trade school to equip 
young men who could not only do good work themselves 
but also reach others has long been felt, and in the fall 
of 1896 a large and thoroughly equipped building was 
opened, followed by a very successful term, and another 
building of similar size is now going up in which the 
young men receive a like training in domestic science. 

Field Missionary. — One of the colored graduates is 
employed as field missionary, whose work is to visit 
graduates and ex-students, their homes, schools, farms, 



370 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

shops, and also to keep the school informed as to what 
they are doing, to assure them of continued interest in 
their welfare and usefulness, and to encourage and help 
them to be in their communities ministers of Christ, 
cultivating industrious habits and intelligent labor. He 
visits schools for the purpose of selecting good student 
material for Hampton. 

Negro Education. — The North and South are work- 
ing together for the Negro for whose education no less 
than $4,000,000 annually in taxation and donations are 
raised. 

Agriculture. — The need of developing and improving 
agricultural work in the school, always a prominent 
feature, has taken new impetus and a thoroughly organ- 
ized system for teaching agriculture scientifically and 
practically has been introduced. Seventy-five per cent, 
of the Southern Negroes are still renters of land held 
under a mortgage system in a very real sort of slavery. 

Outgrowth of Hampton. — Tuskegee, Calhoun, Mt. 
Meigs, Gloucester, Kittrell, Laurenceville, and other 
outgrowths of Hampton are showing what can be done 
toward helping the people to get land for their own and 
making them self-respecting citizens. 

"The Southern Workman." — This is the paper pub- 
lished by the school and is a great help in bringing to 
the country a knowledge of the true condition of the 
Negro. It probably gives fuller and juster information 
regarding the condition and wants of the Southern col- 
ored people than any other periodical. 

A Record of Its Work. — If any one should doubt as 
to the advisability of educating the Negro we would 
recommend the reading of the volume, "Twenty- two 
Years' Work of Hampton Normal and Agricultural 
Institute. * * This certainly must satisfy every one that 




370a 




370b 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 371 

the colored people are improving both in morals and 
intelligence; that they are becoming less dependent 
upon the charities of the white race, and that they now 
see that it is no disgrace to work. 

A Remarkable Record. — This volume gives a remark- 
able record of more than nine hundred graduates of 
Hampton. A large number of them are engaged in 
teaching, others are in the ministry, a number are 
merchants, and not a few are cultivating farms. Most 
of them have homes of their own and property worth 
from five hundred to five thousand dollars. Not the 
least benefit that Hampton is to the race is the influ- 
ence that these graduates exert in the communities in 
which they live. 

Fisk University is now in the thirty-second year of its 
existence. From its incipiency until today it has been 
under the auspices and fostering care of the American 
Missionary Association. The school was formally 
opened January 9, 1866, in the old army hospital west 
of the Chattanooga depot. In the year 1871 the univer- 
sity sent out a concert troupe, known as the Jubilee 
Singers. For seven years they sang with great accept- 
ance both in this country and in Europe, and realized 
the sum of $i5o,poo, with which the present site of 
the university was bought and Jubilee Hall was erected. 
There now stand upon the university grounds five 
beautiful brick buildings, the Memorial Chapel, built 
of stone, and one frame building. The present plant 
of the university could not be replaced with $350,000. 
The campus comprises thirty-five acres of land, and 
the site is universally conceded to be one of the most 
beautiful about Nashville. From the beginning the 
university has stood for the higher education of the 
colored race; and, although it embraces departments 



372 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

of domestic science and industrial training, the empha- 
sis is laid upon its classical course of study. Since 1875 
there have been graduated 163 from college and 15c 
from the normal department, making a total of 313, or 
an average of ten alumni for each of the thirty years of 
the university's existence. This is a good showing of 
the work done by the school, when we remember that 
it started thirty-two years ago with freedmen who had 
not more than the barest elements of primary educa- 
tion. In addition to the college and normal alumni, 
there have been graduated five from the theological 
department, which is only four years old, and six 
from the department of music. 

Work of the Alumni. — The excellence of the work 
done in Fisk University has elicited again and again 
the warmest praise of the friends of higher education. 
Nearly all the alumni are holding positions of honor 
and trust. Eight of the teachers at Tuskegee are grad- 
uates from Fisk University. For a number of years the 
presidents and most of the faculty of Alcorn Industrial 
College, at Rodney, Mississippi, have been alumni from 
Fisk. The same thing is true of the State Normal 
School at Hempstead, Texas. An alumnus of Fisk, 
who was recently professor of Greek and Latin at Wil- 
berforce University, then had a fellowship in the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania, is now professor of economics 
in Atlanta University. Another alumnus is instructor 
in Greek in Howard University, in Washington; and 
still another is instructor in Hebrew and Old Testament 
literature in his Alma Mater. Eight of the alumni have 
done missionary work in Africa. The young woman 
who is in charge of the musical department in Booker 
T. Washington's School at Tuskegee is a graduate in 
music from Fisk. The reputation of the school for 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT 373 

broad and thorough scholarship has gone throughout the 
South, and the president, E. M. Cravath, D. D., often 
receives applications for teachers from school superin- 
tendents and principals in different sections of the 
South. The character of the v^ork done in Fisk Uni- 
versity has gained for it the confidence of the people in 
the North as well as in the South; and, as a conse- 
quence, from twenty-three to twenty-five states are 
annually represented among the students. 

Berea College. — The founder of Berea College, Rev. 
J. G. Fee, was convinced of the evil of slavery while 
taking a course at Lane Seminary, Ohio. On account 
of his anti-slavery views his father disinherited him. 
Before he became an abolitionist his father had given 
him a farm in Indiana, which he sold for $2,400 and 
spent the whole of it in buying and liberating a female 
slave, raised and married on the plantation, to prevent 
her being sold away. Mr. Fee early began his work of 
teaching and preaching, but was frequently interrupted 
by disturbances from slave holders. In 1858 the first 
charter for Berea was drawn up. It opposed sectarian- 
ism, slave holding, and every other wrong institution 
or practice. On account of the persecution of all men 
holding anti-slavery views, Mr. Fee and his associates 
were compelled to flee from the state. Some of them 
endured much from the hands of the mob. John G. 
Hanson, one of the trustees of the college, and for a 
short time a teacher, was almost miraculously protected 
from a mob. Several efforts were made to return to 
the state, but nothing could be done until the close 
of the war. In 1865 the school was opened, and a 
charter for the college was obtained. Three colored 
youths asked admission, and but one decision was pos- 
sible to men like Mr. Fee and his associates. The 

25 Progress 



374 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



morning that these three harmless youths walked in, 
half the school walked out. But these brave teach- 
ers kept on with their work. The vacancies made by 
the white deserters were soon filled with colored stu- 
dents, and eventually all who left returned and became 
fast friends of Berea. At no time have the colored pupils 
exceeded two-thirds of the school. The evils which 
were predicted have never appeared. There is no school 
in the state more easily governed than this. The ques- 
tion whether the colored pupils are not necessarily a 
drag upon the school would never be asked by one who 
had any fair criterion by which to judge. A certain 
amalgamation which was to follow is all in the future. 
The school regulations make no distinctions whatever 
on account of color. They recite in the same classes, 
eat at the same table, room in the same buildings, 
attend the same meetings, and meet in all general social 
gatherings. In 1869 E. H. Fairchild was called to 
the presidency of Berea College. Besides the build- 
ings, which are estimated at $82,000, the college owns 
three acres of land, not including the ground about the 
buildings, worth about $15,000. It has an endowment 
of about $100,000 besides the land. In 1892 Professor 
W. G. Frost, of Oberlin, was called to the presidency. 
The following paper, signed by such men as George 
Cable, Herrick Johnson, Frederick Douglas, Josiah 
Strong, Cassius Clay, M. D. Mayo and others, will 
suggest Berea's work and influence. 

"The peculiar work and opportunity of Berea Col- 
lege place it quite apart from all other institutions, and 
give it a special claim upon the attention of every 
Christian and patriot. Situated near the center of pop- 
ulation, and furnishing an education of the best type- 
industrial, normal, collegiate— to multitudes who would 




374a 




374b 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 375 

otherwise fail of such advantages, it exerts a potent in- 
fluence in favor of progressive and Christian ideas. But 
beyond this, having been founded by anti-slavery Ken- 
tuckians before the war, and having shown a courage 
that compels respect, Berea is in a position to do an un- 
paralleled service in opposing the spirit of caste and ef- 
facing sectional lines. Berea is distinctively Christian, 
but controlled by no sect, and there is no denominational 
school which has before it this providential opening. 
Until larger endowments can be secured, about $12,000 
must be procured each year from friends of the cause. 
We not only seek the large benefactions of the rich, but 
earnestly invite every one who approves of this work 
to contribute, according to his ability, any sum from 
$5 to 5,000." 

SPELMAN SEMINARY. 

Work of a Generation. — The contrast between a 
slave pen of a generation ago, with its chain-gang, its 
auction block, its profanity, vulgarity and other acces- 
sories, and a modern school for Negro girls, like Spel- 
man Seminary, with its beautiful buildings, its attrac- 
tive rooms, its chapel and Bible, its corps of Christian 
workers, the smiling faces of hundreds of pupils bud- 
ding into strong and useful womanhood, is wonderfully 
suggestive of the new era that has dawned for the 
Negroes of the South. Surely, we have reason to 
thank God and take courage. 

Beginning. — The evolution of Spelman Seminary is 
one of the marvels of the age. Beginning in a damp, 
dark, desolate basement of a colored Baptist church, 
without any of the accessories needed for successful 
work, with two teachers and less than a dozen pupils, it 
has, within the last fourteen years, grown to be the 
largest, best equipped school for colored girls in the 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 37 



r* 



world. It has a most choice location, with a magnifi- 
cent outlook over the surrounding country ; has build- 
ings specially suited for its need ; has a large and able 
faculty of devoted teachers ; an attendance of pupils 
numbered by the hundreds ; a constituency of friends 
and patrons rapidly extending in numbers and interest ; 
and has made for itself a large place in the educational 
forces of the South, and established a reputation of the 
very highest order. 

Opening. — Spelman Seminary was opened on the 
nth of April, 1881, in the basement of Friendship 
Baptist church. Two ladies, Miss S. B. Packard and 
H. E. Giles, journeyed south that they might have a 
better knowledge of the condition of the freedmen. 
This visit opened their eyes to the appalling need of 
help for the colored women and girls. They came 
north and, after many discouraging efforts, they suc- 
ceeded in raising funds to start the school. Arriving 
at Atlanta, they at once called on Pastor Quarles, the 
leading colored Baptist minister of the state. When 
he learned their mission, he said: "While I was pray- 
ing, the Lord answered. ' ' For fifteen years I have been 
pleading with God to send teachers to the Baptist women 
of Georgia, and now you have come. ' * . 

Rev. Frank Quarles. — The enthusiasm of this man 
to establish the work among the colored women was 
great and he was anxious lest the teachers should become 
discouraged. He went North to enlist the sympathies 
of the people and to get further support for the school. 
His last words to the school were: "I am going North 
for you. I may never return. Remember, if I die, I 
die for you and in a good cause." To his people he 
said: "Take care of those ladies who have come to us 
as angels of mercy. Don't let them suffer." The 



378 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

northern climate was too severe for his Southern consti- 
tution, and he died in New York at the home of his son. 

The Second Year. — During the second year 175 were 
enrolled, one-third of them were of ages ranging from 
twenty-five to fifty years, and had known and felt the 
evils of slavery. Touching were the incidents showing 
the eagerness and perseverance of these women. 
Often were they laughed at and even persecuted, be- 
cause they showed a determination to get a little light. 
Some walked seven and eight miles to and from 
school, hardly missing a day, even in the severest 
weather. 

The Coal Bin. — In January, 1882, the school was so 
large two of the recitations were already heard in the 
main room; a third teacher. Miss Champney, took as 
her recitation room the coal bin, in which there was one 
small window. • 

Rockefeller Hall. — Miss Packard and Miss Giles went 
North in 1 882 to secure funds for the school. When some 
thousands had been raised, Mr. John D. Rockefeller 
came to their relief and gave a large sum, and the school 
was named Spelman Seminary in honor of Mr. Spelman, 
the father of Mrs. Rockefeller. Rockefeller Hall was 
dedicated in 1886. It contains recitation rooms, dormi- 
tories, and a beautiful chapel, on whose walls is inscribed 
the motto: "Our whole school for Christ." 

Giles Hall. — In 1892 Mr. Rockefeller again presented 
the institution with a building 170 feet long and four 
stories high, and requested that it should be called Giles 
Hall. On the first floor are a large school room and 
ten class rooms for the use of the primary department ; 
on the second floor are similar rooms for the interme- 
diate department ; the third floor contains a laboratory 
and science lecture room, commodious recitation rooms 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 379 

for the normal and training and missionary training 
classes, and dormitories for the students of these depart- 
ments. The building was dedicated in December, 1893. 

Buildings. — Spelman Seminary now has six brick 
buildings, four frame dormitories, and a frame hospital 
for the sick, and about fourteen acres of land. The 
property is now estimated at about $150,000. 

Enrollment. — The aggregate enrollment for fifteen 
years has been about 6,500. Fifty-one certificates 
have been given in the nurse training department. 
Ninety-two have gone out from the academic depart- 
ment, a majority of whoin are teachers. Two are on the 
Congo as missionaries ; one, a Congo girl, was sent to 
be educated, and returned in 1895 as an appointed 
missionary from the Woman's Baptist Missionary 
Society of Boston. 

Success. — The success which has attended this work 
has proved how valuable and important normal train- 
ing is. There are hundreds whose circumstances would 
not allow them to remain longer in school who have 
gone out to do efficient services and become centers of 
influences for good in the communities where they 
live. 

Teachers. — The number of teachers has greatly in- 
creased, until at present there are 38. The Women's 
American Baptist Missionary Society provided for a 
number of these ; the Slater Fund for others, while 
some of them labor unselfishly and faithfully with only 
a meager salary. ' .,■] 

Influence. — Spelman Seminary is a power for goody;;* 
It is to the colored women of the South all that Vassar' 
is to the white women of the North. It is an enterprise 
of quick growth and phenomenal proportion. 

Prof. Wm. E. Holmes.— The Negro Baptists of the 

25 Progress. 



380 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



South show their appreciation of the school by the 
hundreds who have already enlisted as members. The 
intelligent interest and co-operation of Prof. Holnies, 
formerly of the Baptist Seminary, from the very com- 
mencement have been of inestimable value, a means of 
elevating the race. The colored people more and 
more appreciate the worth and work of this noble sem- 
inary. They feel they have now a training home for 
their daughters where correct discipline is administered 
by consecrated Christian women, who give their lives, 
while many give their money, to prepare toilers for 
service as a means in the elevation of the race. Spel- 
man is invaluable and indispensable. 

Nora A. Gordon, — Nora A. Gordon was born in 

Columbia, Georgia, 
in 1866. Her parents 
were formerly slaves, 
belonging to the well- 
known General Gor- 
don, from whom they 
received their name. 
She attended the pub- 
1 i c schools of La 
Grange, Georgia, 
where she resided. 
In the fall of 1882 she 
entered S p e 1 m a n 
Seminary. She was 
ignorant and super- 
stitious, and had many 
mistaken ideas about 
NORA A. GORDON, rcHgion. She soon 

Missionary in Africa. became a Christian, 

and joined the Baptist Church of Atlanta. She then 




EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 381 

began organizing temperance societies, Sunday schools, 
and caused family altars to be erected in the homes of 
her pupils. She was a diligent student, completing the 
course in Spelman in 1888, and at once accepted the 
position as teacher in one of the Atlanta public schools, 
but in 1889 an urgent call came for her to go to Africa. 
She said: "Christ's preciousness to me makes me feel 
that I wish my feet had wings, that I might hasten to 
take the Bread of Life to the poor heathen. I have 
counted the cost of missionary service, and my love for 
Christ makes me willing to bear the many peculiar 
trials through which I am confident I must pass." At 
the farewell services in Atlanta she said: "This has 
been a peculiar day to me, the happiest of my life, as I 
am so soon to realize a long cherished hope. I feel 
that perfect peace which passeth understanding. 

"Some friends have asked me why I go, 

What may my reason be; 
You have my answer in these words, 
I 'God's love constraineth me.' " 

Miss Gordon labored in Africa until 1893, when 
broken-down health compelled her to return to Amer- 
ica, but in 1895, her health being restored, she was 
married to Rev. S. C. Gordon, of Stanley Pool, and 
again returned to the Congo. 

Bishop Hapgood says: "No money apportioned by 
me from 1882 till 1891 was ever better used than that 
I gave to Spelman. Whatever concerns bodily, mental 
or spiritual health is considered and provided for at 
Spelman. The houses and premises are clean; the 
discipline and instruction are of the very best; the 
atmosphere is religious. ' ' 

Clara Howard. — Clara Howard was bom in Green- 
ville, Georgia. At nine years of age she entered a little 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 383 

priv^ate school and afterwards Atlanta University, where 
she remained nearly three years. Afterwards she en- 
tered Spelman Seminary, and graduated in 1887, and was 
at once appointed teacher in the Atlanta public schools. 
She was appointed missionary to the Congo, in 1890, 
where she remained until 1894, when she was compelled 
by ill health to leave her work, and returned to Spel- 
man. She hopes again to take up her chosen work 
after regaining health. 

Atlanta Baptist Seminary. — The work of this semi- 
nary was beg^n in 187 1, and carried on for some years 
at Augusta, Georgia, but in 1879 it was removed to the 
capital of the state and buildings erected at a cost of 
$12,500. The special aim of the school is the education 
of preachers and such teachers as can be classed with 
them profitably. A strong sentiment in favor of edu- 
cation of young women was soon developed after the 
removal of the school to Atlanta. The Spelman Girls' 
School and Atlanta Baptist Seminary are located on 
almost the same grounds. The site contains about 
eight acres. The colored people of the state have taken 
a deep interest in the work, and have succeeded in rais- 
ing money for the purpose. The future work of the 
school is great, the developing of thought among- the 
100,000 colored Baptists in the Empire State of the 
South. Ini888 a new site of eighteen acres was pur- 
chased in West Atlanta. The new buildings cost $30,- 
000. The value of the property at present is $40,000. 

Clark University, like most schools of its kind, had an 
humble beginning. Starting as an ordinary grade 
school, in the city of Atlanta, in the year 1869, it has 
come, through various changes of fortune, to be what 
it is today — the largest and best located of the schools 
of the Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Epis- 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 385 

copal Church. Confined for many years to narrow 
quarters in the city, it was moved to its present spacious 
site in the year 1880, when its first new building, Chris- 
man Hall, was erected. 

Its charter was secured in 1877, and the first meeting 
of the trustees took place on the fifteenth day of Feb- 
ruary of that year. 

The land, 450 acres, was secured through the untir- 
ing efforts and far sightedness of Bishop Gilbert Haven, 
and Its first building owes its existence chiefly to the 
generosity and benevolence of Mrs. Eliza Chrisman, of 
Topeka, Kansas. 

From 1880 to 1884, Bishop Henry W. Warren made 
his home at the institution, and rendered to it the most 
substantial aid it has had since its foundation. It was 
in this period that the industrial department, under the 
patronage of Bishop Warren, came into being — depart- 
ments that had steady and rapid growth, and continued 
in operation until two years ago, when, because of the 
great financial stringency, they were closed — yet with 
the hope of opening again. In these departments were 
taught carpentry, blacksmithing, carriage making, 
carriage painting, harness making, and printing. Sim- 
ultaneously with the establishment of the 'shops, was 
also established the "Model Home," for the instruction 
of girls in all domestic arts and duties. This home 
accommodates twenty pupils. No department of the 
institution has been richer in good results. 

In the year 1883, the Gammon School of Theology 
was founded in connection with Clark University, by 
Rev. Elijah H. Gammon, of Batavia, Illinois. This 
school remained a department of the university until 
the year 1888, when it became a separate institution 
under the corporate name of Gammon Theological 
Seminary. 



386 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

The property of the university, situated just outside 
the city limits, is at present valued at ^400,000. Its 
value will be enhanced, probably, twice that sum, as 
the city pushes out around and about it. With proper 
management, the school has unlimited possibilities for 
good. 

Atlanta University, originally under the auspices of 
the American Missionary Association, but now independ- 
ent and unsectarian, was organized in the year 1869. Its 
organization was largely due to the energy and foresight 
of Rev. Edmund Asa Ware, who became its first presi- 
dent, and continued in that position twenty years, or up 
to the time of his death. The school had phenomenal 
growth during those twenty years, and became, per- 
haps, the best known institution of its kind in the South. 
It offers its advantages to both sexes, without regard to 
race, color, or nationality. 

The property of the school is valued at about $200,- 
000, and is situated on a commanding elevation in the 
city, easily accessible by the street cars, which, indeed, 
run through its grounds. 

Like most schools of its kind in the South, it has some 
industrial features, but unlike the other schools, it has 
now no grade work, that work having been discontinued 
three years ago. The efforts of the institution are now 
directed solely towards building up a college proper. 
The standard is being gradually raised, and it is the 
laudable ambition of the authorities to have here, in the 
Central South, a university worthy of the name, that 
shall supply the educational needs of the people. 

For the last few years, however, the school has been 
much hampered for lack of funds, the $8,000 annual 
appropriation granted by an act of the Georgia legisla- 
ture in 1874 having been withdrawn by the Glenn bill, 




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887 



388 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

passed a few years ago by the same legislature. The 
reason given for the withdrawal was the presence of 
white pupils in the school. These white pupils, it 
ought to be said, were children of some of the teachers. 
The school, nevertheless, lives, has a warm place in 
the hearts of the people, and a high reputation for the 
work it has done and is doing. 

Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. — In 1881 
the Alabama legislature passed a bill appropriating 
$2,000 yearly for the support of a school at Tuskegee for 
the education of Negro youth. General Armstrong 
was asked to suggest a suitable man to establish and 
direct the work, and he recommended Booker T. Wash- 
ington. The district in which the school is located is 
one in which the black people outnumber the whites 
three to one. Here, on the fourth of June, 1881, he 
opened the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute 
in a small church and shanty. Since that time the insti- 
tution has grown until it has now 80 instructors, about 
40 buildings, and over 800 students, all over fourteen 
years of age, the average age being eighteen and one- 
half years. Students come from twenty-four states. 
From the first industrial training has been a prominent 
feature of this school. This is kept uppermost, to train 
men and women in head, heart and hand ; to meet con- 
ditions that exist right about them rather than conditions 
that existed centuries ago, or that exist a thousand 
miles away. The institution is Christian, but not 
denominational. Professor Washington says it is not 
the type of Christianity that prevails in some places 
among the colored race, where, as an example, is told 
the story of the colored man who went to his weekly 
class meeting and said to his class leader, "I's had a 
ha'd time since our las' meetin': I's been sometimes 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 389 

Up and sometimes down. 'Spects I's broken eb'ry one 
ob de ten comman'ments since our las' meetin', but I 
tanks God I's not los my 'ligionyet'' 

In connection with literature and Christian training- 
the students are trained in industrial pursuits. Over 
twenty-four hundred acres of land are owned by the 
institute, 650 of which are cultivated. The students 
receive instruction in various branches of agriculture, 
horticulture, dairy products, brick masonry, wheel- 
wrighting, blacksmithing, tinning, carpentering, paint- 
ing, shoemaking, tailoring, dressmaking, and various 
branches of industrial training, besides preparing men 
and women as teachers, preachers, physicians, lawyers, 
clerks, merchants, machinists, etc. This system enables 
them to make practical application of the theories which 
they learn in the class room. The principles of physics 
are immediately applied in the machine shop, those of 
chemistry in farming and cooking, those of mathematics 
in carpentering, etc. There are no idlers in Tuskegee. 
They erect their own buildings, even manufacturing 
every brick ; they also do the carpenter and other work. 
Thus the institute secures buildings for permanent use 
with a minimum of expense, and the students have the 
industrial training. This also helps the young men and 
women to get rid of any old idea they may have had 
that labor is disgraceful ; that it is beneath one to use 
his hands if he has any education. The Tuskegee 
property is now valued at $300,000, on which there is 
no mortgage. One great difficulty in endeavoring to 
better the condition of the Southern Negro is the "mort- 
gage system, ' ' which makes them virtually the property 
of well-to-do planters, taking away all their independ- 
ence, ambition and self-respect. They live in little 
cabins, and try to pay sometimes 40 per cent, interest 



390 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

on their property and on their crops, which are often 
mortgaged before they are raised. The result in pov- 
erty and lack of hope for better things can be imagined. 
Tuskegee Institute is seeking to find and apply a rem- 
edy for this state of things. This work they do not 
consider hopeless or even discouraging. The Negroes 
acknowledge their ignorance and low condition, but 
they think that there is no help for it. What they need 
is intelligent and unselfish leadership in their religious, 
industrial and intellectual life, and this is what the 
Tuskegee institution is endeavoring to give them. The 
trouble is that these people do not know how to utilize 
the results of their labor. What they earn gets away 
from them in paying mortgages, and in buying lace, 
snuff, and cheap jewelry. They have not yet learned 
the distinctions between cheap and showy imitations of 
wealth and education, and the culture and refinement 
which only comes by slow and labored progress. A 
one-roomed cabin will sometimes have clocks bought 
on the installment plan for $12, when, in nine cases out 
of ten, not one in the family can tell when the hands 
point to six o'clock and when to twelve; or a family 
will mortgage a year's crop to pay for a funeral or a 
wedding. 

Tuskegee has already succeeded in reforming many 
districts. At the time of their emancipation practically 
all of the Negroes lived in one-room cabins ; ten years 
ago nine-tenths of them lived in the same way ; whereas 
today one-third of them have at least doubled their 
accommodations, and many of them own their farms 
and homes. The students who come to Tuskegee from 
wretched, single-roomed hovels, go back to transform 
them into homes where peace and purity can thrive. 
Already the graduates of the institution are in great 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 391 

demand all over the South, and other schools are apply- 
ing the Tuskegee principles and methods of education. 

The chief requisites for admission to the institute are 
a good moral character, attested by recommendations 
from reliable persons, a good physique and a fair ability 
to read, write and cipher. No student who cannot read 
and write will be admitted to the institute. No student 
is admitted to any department on any terms under four- 
teen years of age ; this rule is rigidly enforced. 

Ten years ago a young man born in slavery found his 
way to the Tuskegee school. By small cash payments 
and work on the farm he finished the course with a 
good English education and a practical and theoretical 
knowledge of farming. Returning to his country home, 
where five-sixths of the citizens were black, he found 
them still mortgaging their crops, living on rented land 
from hand to mouth, and deeply in debt. School had 
never lasted longer than three months, and was taught 
in a wreck of a cabin by an inferior teacher. Finding 
this condition of things, the young man took the three 
months' public school as a starting point. Soon he 
organized the older people into a club that came 
together every week. In these meetings the young 
man taught them the value of owning a home, the evils 
of mortgaging, and the importance of educating their 
children. He taught them how to save money, how to 
sacrifice — to live on bread and potatoes until they got 
out of debt, begin buying a home and stop mortgaging. 
Through the lessons and influence of these meetings 
during the first year of this young man's work, these 
people built by their contributions and labor a good 
frame school house, which replaced the wreck of a log 
cabin. The next year this work was continued, and 
those people, by their own gifts, furnished funds for 



392 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

adding two months to the original school term. Month 
by month has been added to the school term, till it now 
lasts seven months every year. Already fourteen fam- 
ilies within a radius of ten miles have bought and are 
buying homes, a large proportion have ceased mortgag- 
ing their crops, and are raising their own food supplies. 
In the midst of all is the young man educated at Tusk- 
egee in a model cottage and a model farm that serve as 
a center of light for the whole community. 

A few years ago a young woman was educated and 
converted at Tuskegee. After her graduation she went 
to one of the plantations where they only had school for 
three months in the year in a broken-down log cabin. 
She took charge of the school, and went among the 
mothers and fathers of the pupils and found out what 
their resources were. She^ taught them how to save 
money. The first year many men decided not to mort- 
gage their crops, but to provide suitable homes and a 
good schoolhouse. They added to the school term until 
now they have a season of eight months. The com- 
munity is transformed, and the very faces of the peo- 
ple show the revolution that has been wrought in their 
lives by that one Christian leader. Every improve- 
ment has come through this young woman in their 
midst showing them how to direct their efforts, how 
to take the money that had hitherto gone for mortgag- 
ing, snuff and tobacco, and to use it for their own 
uplifting. 

The Georgia State Industrial College was estab- 
lished in 1 89 1, beginning its first regular session in 
October of that year. In the summer of 1891 a pre- 
liminary session was held in Athens, Georgia, while a 
permanent location was being selected for its establish- 
ment. 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 



393 



Prof. R. R. Wright, A. M., who was a member of 
the class of 1876 of the Atlanta University, and who 
had been for eleven years principal of the Ware High 
School of Augusta, was chosen as its first President. 




RICHARD R. WRIGHT, A. M. 

President of Georgia State Industrial College 
See sketch, page 393. 

During the session at Athens, President Wright was 
assisted by Prof. L. B. Palmer and Mrs. Addrienne 
McNeal Herndon, both graduates of the Atlanta Uni- 
versity. 



394 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



The Georgia State College was established in pursu- 
ance of an act of the state legislature in 1S90, when the 
act of 1874 appropriating to the Atlanta University a 
sum of $8,000 per annum was repealed, and an enact- 
ment made providing for the establishment of a state 
school for colored youth. This institution is a branch 
of the State University now at Athens, so is under the 
general supervision of the Chancellor of the University 
of Georgia and its Board of Trustees. 

The Georgia State College is the only one of its kind 
in the state for the education of colored youth. A 
more beautiful as well as healthful situation for a col- 
lege could not be found in the state. 

The main buildings are Boggs Hall, the principal 
recitation building; Parson Hall, constituting the 
dormitory and dining hall ; and a shop for training in 
architectural and mechanical drawing, wood and iron 
working, masonry and decorating. In 1892 three neat 
cottages were erected as homes for the President and 
the professors. A magnificent chapel and model school 
building has just been completed, which stands as a 
monument to the industrial feature of the College. This 
building was erected entirely by the students, working 
under the direction of the principal of the Manual Train- 
ing department. This department was awarded a 
medal at the International Exposition held in Atlanta 
in 1895. 

There is a Normal Course of three years besides a 
regular College department. Industrial Training, which 
is one of the prominent features, extends throughout 
the entire course. The last year of this department, 
however, is elective. There have been eleven grad- 
uates from the Normal Course. There is also a 
Teachers* Training department for the benefit of those 
who contemplate entering that profession. 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 395 

Since its first session it has been necessary for the 
College to almost double the number of instructors, 
which evidences the steady growth of the institution. 
Its energetic and persevering President and his assist- 
ants have labored untiringly to make of this institution 
a first-class college for the industrial as well as intellect- 
ual training of the colored youth in the state. 

The enrollment has increased from forty-two for 
the first year to more than two hundred. At present 
there are no scholarships belonging to this institution, 
though needy students aid themselves by work. In 
connection with the College there is a farm containing 
fifty-four acres on which most of the necessary vege- 
tables are cultivated by student labor under the super- 
vision of an experienced agriculturist. 

As the result of the generosity of Miss Jennie E. 
Bill, of Norwich, Connecticut, and other friends, there 
is for the students an excellent library to which 
collections are being added from time to time. There 
are two literary societies, besidesa Young Men's Chris- 
tian Association under whose direction are conducted 
the prayer meetings and other devotional exercises. 
The present faculty is composed of some of the best 
talent afforded by the race. 

Central Tennessee College. — Central Tennessee Col- 
lege was chartered in 1866 by the legislature of 
Tennessee. It is supported by the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. A large number of the students have 
engaged in teaching. Many of these teachers have 
charge of Sunday schools as well as day schools, thus 
aiding in the religious instruction of the communities 
where they labor. Many of them are professed Chris- 
tians. Some are successful preachers, while over 
three hundred have graduated in the medical depart- 



396 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

ment and are now practicing successfully. There are 
more than five million colored people in the South who 
are asking for more competent teachers, doctors, 
dentists, pharmacists and preachers, who can teach the 
people, better educated farmers and mechanics and 
more enlightened wives and mothers to lift the home 
life of the entire people. The aim of this school is to 
aid in this great work. With a history of nearly a 
third of a century, the different departments of the 
College, now fully organized, have accomplished a great 
work. This gives hope for the future. The College 
buildings consist of seven brick edifices. 

The "Tennesseeans" were a popular troupe who 
established a national reputation and delighted thou- 
sands of intelligent audiences with their popular plan- 
tation melodies. With the proceeds obtained by these 
gifted singers an elegant and commodious four-story 
brick structure was added to Central Tennessee 
College. 

Meharry Medical College. — The Meharry Medical 
Department of Central Tennessee College was organ- 
ized in 1876, for the purpose of furnishing to the col- 
ored people of the South an opportunity of obtaining 
a medical education. At that time there was no med- 
ical school in the Southern states that would admit 
colored students, and in the North the doors of many 
of the medical colleges were closed against them. 

It takes its name from the generous and philanthropic 
family who so liberally contributed towards its estab- 
lishment and support. In 1879, through the munifi- 
cence of the Rev. Samuel Meharry, Shawnee Mound, 
Ind., and his brothers, Rev. Alexander Meharry, 
D.b., and Hugh Meharry, Esq., aided by Rev. R. S. 
Rust, D.D., corresponding secretary of the Freedmen's 




MEHARRY MEDICAL COLLEGE, 

Nashville, Tennessee. 



397 



398 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a lot 
was purchased, and the beautiful and commodious brick 
building, now known as the Meharry Medical College, 
was erected. 

This school has conferred the degree of M. D. on 
308 students, nearly all of whom are now engaged in 
the successful practice of their profession. They have 
been kindly received by the white physicians, whose 
uniform testimony is that the colored physicians sent 
out by this school give evidence of very thorough prep- 
aration for their work. More than one-half of the 
educated colored physicians in the Southern states are 
graduates of this institution. The success of this 
department is largely due to the untiring zeal and 
energy of Dr. Hubbard, who has for so many years 
stood at the head of this department. Dr. Hubbard is 
probably better informed on the work done by colored 
physicians of the South than any other man. Meharry 
Medical college stands today as the most prominent of 
all the medical schools for colored people. Ninety-six 
per cent of her graduates are practicing medicine. 

Leland University, New Orleans, La. — Leland Uni- 
versity was founded, as its name implies, for high- 
er education, a just provision for which is the 
essential factor in all education, as its source and 
mainspring. It was founded in New Orleans, a great 
center of the region of the greatest illiteracy and 
therefore of greatest need. It was by its founder and 
its charter opened to all classes of citizens, without 
distinction of sex or color, and therefore became avail- 
able, as it was intended to be, to the descendants of 
the class which was at that time mo3t needy, because 
of having been shut out from the privilege of educa- 
tion. 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 399 

At first it was found that this class were unprepared 
for higher education, not having received the lower, 
and to accommodate them a temporary provision of 
primary instruction was made in the university. After 
thirty years of opportunity and, in view of the progress 
which the people have made, in both primary and sec- 
ondary education, a similar necessity no longer exists. 

During the first year of the work of the present faculty 
(session of 1887-88) there were 185 students enrolled, 
of whom 109 were primary scholars, 76 of the grammar 
school grade, and only 14 in the normal department, 
with no college students. For three years about 90 
per cent, of our students were below the normal grade, 
and of these over a hundred were primary, crowding 
our rooms and our classes with a heterogeneous mass of 
beginners in the very rudiments of knowledge. By 
authority of the Board in 1890 was commenced the work 
of establishing auxiliary schools in the state for primary 
work. Howe Institute, Alexandria High School and 
Leland Academy at Donaldsonville, were among the 
first inaugurated, the object being to bring preparatory 
work nearer to the people and thus make it available 
to a larger number. At the same time the terms of ad- 
mission were, by order of the trustees, raised in the uni- 
versity to prevent competition with country schools, and 
to improve the work in the higher classes. The plant- 
ing of these schools has stimulated others, until now 
ten such institutions exist, where an eight months' 
course of study like our preparatory department has 
been given this year to 1,276 pupils, more than ten 
times as many as could have come to New Orleans if 
they had desired to do so. Three of these schools are 
directly auxiliary to Leland. The names of their 
teachers and pupils appear in its catalogue, and their 



400 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

interests are under the fostering care of its faculty and 
the thoughtful benevolence of its trustees. 

Rev. Edward Gushing Mitchell, D. D.— Since 1887 
Dr. Mitchell, a distinguished divine, teacher and 
author, has been President of Leland University. 
Through his untiring zeal he has succeeded in raising 
the standard of the institution and in enlarging and 
extending its work. The University owes its existence 
to the late Holbrook Chamberlain, Esq., of Brooklyn, 
N. Y. , who erected the buildings, assisted in its man- 
agement, and at his death left to it the bulk of his 
property, about $100,000, as an endowment fund, the 
interest of which goes to the payment of teachers. 

Southland College and Normal and Industrial In- 
stitute. — This school was organized by the Indiana 
Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends in 
1864; the College department was organized in 1872. 
The first class was graduated in 1876. The leading 
object of the school is to qualify teachers, and about' 
five hundred have already gone out into the free schools 
of Arkansas and adjoining states, while some have 
been employed in schools of higher grade. 

The primary object of the school is the preparation 
of teachers, but other lines of work have been taken 
up. An Industrial department has been added where 
is given a practical knowledge of the use of tools in 
such lines of work as will make students self-sustaining 
and will fit them for the duties of useful citizenship. 

The school is at present in charge of Prof. Wm. 
Russell and wife. During the past few years the 
amount of land owned by the College has been more 
than doubled. A printing press has been put in, a 
kindergarten department established, and other valua- 
ble improvements made. The expenses for tuition, 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 401 

board and washing range from eight to ten dollars per 
month, and many of the students pay nearly all by 
work. 

The funds to carry on the institution are obtained 
from the income of an endowment fund of $35,000, 
from annual appropriations of the Indiana Religious 
Meetings and from voluntary donations of friends of 
the school. Of course, the products of the farm and 
the tuition fees paid, heljp to increase the income. The 
school is located at the foot of Crowley's Ridge, nine 
miles northwest of Helena, Arkansas, in a remarkably 
healthy climate. A high moral tone and deep relig- 
ious convictions are characteristics of the students who 
remain long enough in the school. Southland College 
has been a factor of peace, true to the teachers who 
founded it. Leading citizens of Helena attribute 
much to the Institution in promoting peace and harmony 
in the cotmty in which it is located. No mob violences 
have occurred here, and county offices are frequently 
filled by colored men of the different political parties. 

Morris Brown College. — Morris Brown College, the 
principal school of the African Methodist Episcopal 
Church, was founded in 1881. The site overlooking 
the city of Atlanta was purchased at a cost of $3>5o°- 
During the first year 107 students were enrolled; about 
$25,000 has been spent in erecting two large buildings. 
The present corps of teachers numbers 16 ; the number 
of students 430. The course of instruction embraces 
English, Academic, Normal and Industrial depart- 
ments. All the members of the faculty are Negroes. 
Every dollar of the funds which are used in supporting 
this college comes from Negroes. We run no risk in 
saying that the work of these Negro minds and hearts 
suffers nothing in comparison with the best of r.ny race. 



402 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

A number have graduated from the lower classes. 
It will have its first classical graduates in '98. This 
institution bids fair to become the leading institution 
entirely manned by Negroes. All that it needs is to 
be properly encouraged and fostered. It has the 
advantage of Wilburforce in that it is situated in the 
very heart of the South, where so many of the colored 
race are anxious to obtain an education. 

It needs funds to complete the central building, as 
well as to carry on the work-in general. This institu- 
tion is indeed an honor to the race. Theory sometimes 
fails of conviction, but the most obdurate mind will be 
convinced of such a practical proof of the Negroes* 
ability. 

Prof. James Henderson is president since 1888. 

Livingstone College. — Livingstone College is the 
principal college of the A. M. E. Zion Church. It was 
organized in 1882, in Salisbury, N. C. Its existence is 
largely due to the energy of that prince of orators, 
Rev. J. C. Price, who afterwards became its president. 
He collected funds both in this country and in Europe. 
The valuation of the buildings and grounds, now 
about 50 acres, is estimated at $100,000. Although 
young in years its graduates have already passed the 
hundred mark. President Price, its efficient and 
popular president, devoted his life to the work of this 
institution. There have been enrolled more than three 
hundred students. The death of President Price, in 
1893, was a blow to Livingstone. The work is being 
carried on by his successor. Dr. H. Goler. 

A humble colored man recently loaned the Baptists 
of Virginia $13,000, with which to build a seminary 
at Lynchburg. 

Howard University. — Howard University was estab- 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 403 

lished by the government primarily through the instru- 
mentality of General O. Howard, the distinguished 
soldier whose name it bears, and whose spirit its 
teachers seek to emulate. It has always welcomed all 
nationalities alike. The work of this university is now 
well known to the country. It is confessedly the 
leader in the education of the Afro-American race. 
Every year the trustees seek to enlarge its scope and 
fit it for greater usefulness. With its departments of 
theology, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, law, indus- 
try, music and nurse training, it is accomplishing much 
in elevating the Negro. 

Knoxville College, Knoxville, Tennessee. — This col- 
lege is under the care of the United Presbyterian 
Church of North America. It is sustained mostly by 
contributions from the various congregations to the 
Board of Missions of the Freedmen. It is the result of 
benevolent effort to benefit the colored people. Its 
design is to train teachers for colored schools and 
preachers for the churches ; also to encourage a thor- 
ough education of those who wish to advance beyond 
the studies ordinarily taught in common schools. 

Medical Department: The Medical Department was 
opened in 1895. A four years' course has been pro- 
vided for and a number of students have already 
entered this department. Arrangement has been 
made with the University of Tennessee by making 
provision for its colored students in Knoxville College. 
According to agreement with the university, all col- 
ored students over fifteen years of age have free 
tuition. Its location in the chief city of Tennessee 
gives advantages that are not found elsewhere. As a 
denominational school, students are received from all 
parts of the South where the church is represented. 

27 Progress 



404 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Selma University. — A convention of colored Baptists 
at Tuscaloosa in 1873, decided to establish a school for 
preachers and asked the white brethren for money 
and advice. Receiving no encouragement they went 
to work among themselves and succeeded in opening 
the school at Selma in 1878. In that year property 
was bought at a cost of $3,000, and paid for wholly by 
the colored people. Improvements have since been 
going on so that the property today is worth about 
$20,000. In 1 88 1 Rev. W. H. McAlpine, who was a 
slave until 1865, and who had done more for the school 
than any other man, was chosen President. The pros- 
pects for the great work are flattering. 

Shaw University, Raleigh. — This school was estab- 
lished by Rev. H. M. Tupper, of Massachusetts, in 
1865, under the auspices of the American Baptist 
Home Missionary Society. The work of construction 
was slow in the beginning but by liberal contributions 
from Mr. Shaw, J. Estey & Co., George M. Moore 
and other New England men, enough was raised to 
erect the Shaw building. In 1875 the school was in- 
corporated as Shaw University. The medical depart- 
ment was begun in the summer of 1881, a fine building 
having been furnished by the Leonard family of 
Hampden, Massachusetts. President Tupper opened 
his first Sunday school in Raleigh in 1865 under an oak 
tree; in 1892 he presided over an institution having 
five large brick buildings and in all parts unequaled 
by any other educational institution in the state. To 
him is largely due the success of the project, for he, 
by persistent effort even to the manufacture of brick 
on the farm and the construction of the building, 
devoted his whole strength to the work. The school 
has six departments and is doing a great work in pre- 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 405 

paring teachers and ministers for the South as well as 
for Africa. 

Roger Williams University. — The beginning of the 
work of the Baptist Home Missionary Society in Nash- 
ville dates back to the close of the war. Rev. H. L. 
Wayland was the first missionary teacher in that place. 
Rev. D. W. Phillips succeeded him, and in 1875 a 
large building was erected at a cost of nearly fifty 
thousand dollars. The school, from the beginning, 
has maintained a high reputation for thorough work. 
The institution was incorporated in 1883. With a 
number of buildings and a small endowment Roger 
Williams University is doing a great work at Nashville, 
although from the beginning it has had powerful com- 
petitors. The number of students is gradually increas- 
ing. The graduates are widely scattered throughout 
the South occupying positions of influence and useful- 
ness. 

Tougaloo University, Tougaloo, Mississippi. — This 
is emphatically the "Black Belt" plantation school of 
the American Missionary Society, located in the midst 
of America's "Darkest Africa," touching by far the 
most numerous and important class on which the future 
of the Negro rests, the plantation Negro. The school 
was established in 1869. Five hundred acres were 
purchased and with them a fine mansion. The work 
of chief importance is that of the normal department, 
for the future of the race depends largely upon the 
teachers trained for the common schools. Stieby Hall, 
erected in 1882, is the boys' dormitory, accommodating 
frofti seventy to eighty boys. The Theological depart- 
inent was established about seven years ago and is 
doing a great work in that direction. Senator Beard 
says it would quite repay those who would study the 



40G PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

problem of saving Negro children of the rural districts 
of the "Black Belt," to go far out of their way to visit 
Tougaloo. Tougalooisa great school where efficiency 
and economy are found pulling quietly in the same 
harness as in few institutions. 

Biddle University, Charlotte, North Carolina, was 
opened at the close of the war between the states. The 
first teachers were Rev. S. C. Alexander and Rev. W. 
G. Miller. The liberality of Mrs. Mary D. Biddle, of 
Philadelphia, gave to the institution its first generous 
contribution. Her husband had yielded his life in the 
cause of the Union, and Mrs. Biddle requested the 
privilege of perpetuating his memory in connection 
with the school. Generous gifts from friends in the 
North have not been wanting, and the school is on a 
good financial basis. 

The property is vested in a board of trustees, and a 
clause in the charter makes it the perpetual heritage 
of the colored people in connection with the Presby- 
terian Church. There are thirteen buildings. The 
main building, devoted to recitation rooms, library, 
chapel, etc., was built at a cost of $40,000. The 
grounds include sixty acres situated one mile west of 
Charlotte. The total valuation of grounds and build- 
ings is $125,000. There are four departments, the 
School of Theology, School of Arts and Sciences, 
Normal and Preparatory School, and School of Indus- 
try, in which are taught the various trades. 

Self Support. — The students are being educated to 
rely upon themselves and become self-supporting. 
The total earnings of the students for the year ending 
October, 1895, amounted to $11,291. 

Graduates. — The graduates are distributed as fol- 
lows: Theology, 73; School of Art and Sciences, 118; 



^■^ i-.'.-^V • i .'-^ '..^■'L^^jy^*/ ^. 11;/: T n .' 




408 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Normal and Preparatory School, 183; 62 are active 
ministers of the colored Presbyterian Church ; 6 are 
serving at Biddle as professors; i is a foreign mis- 
sionary in Africa and professor of Latin and Greek in 
Liberia College ; i is a bishop in the A. M. E. Zion 
Church. A number are lawyers and physicians, and 
many are teachers in normal, high and public schools. 
Since 1891 Rev. D. J. Sanders, D. D., is president. 
The faculty and not a few of the students are aware of 
the important part played by the spiritual tone of the 
university life. Earnest efforts are made to induce 
new students to enter upon a spiritual life. The col- 
lege classes contain very few unconverted persons, and 
the close of each year sees seven-eighths of the entire 
body of students professed followers of Jesus Christ. 

Tuskegee Conference. — One of the helpful features 
in industrial training in the South is the ai.nual Negro 
Conference, held at Tuskegee, Alabama. In this con- 
ference are found men of all classes, ministers and 
teachers, as well as farmers and laborers, and these, 
too, have had an education. The reports from differ- 
ent parts of the South are encouraging. We append 
extracts from a few of them. 

Willis Ligon said: "The first crop I made I was har- 
nessed like a mule to a plow, and my little boy held 
the handles. Many colored men are getting cotton- 
gins, grist mills and saw mills, as well as land. I am 
going to start a new town at my settlement and call it 
Nazarene. ' ' Mr. Ligon has never missed a conference. 
He owns several large farms and is a stockholder in 
both the banks of Tuskegee. 

Father Mitchell, a gray-haired farmer, said: ''I 
tank God I is living yet. My people has been eating 
too much. Don't laugh, now. Mr. President, you 



EQUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT 409 

preached a mighty good text last night. I liked yer 
prayer 'bout gettin' all de obstacles out ob de way 
first. I am a hard-working man, I've got sons and 
daughters. De Nigger race can make the best people 
in de world. Jest allow me to call you Niggers, case 
you'se all black. We" can get land if any people can. 
We knows how to work and make a happy home and 
a good school. I has learned more in de last five years 
since dese conferences started, dan I ever knowed 
before in all my sixty years. We wants good leaders 
as will take de difficulties out of our way. * * * 
De people don't count as much on religion as dey 
ought. Religion is a mighty nice thing if you use it 
right. It takes a pious man to live religion. De longer 
de worl' stands de wiser it grows. Some of our people 
is getting too wise. Many likes to dance too much. 
De jail-house is full and we is running excursions. If 
you see a man crooked, straighten him by the grace of 
de Lord. We hollers and shouts too much, and jumps 
like we was crazy. It is a sad thing to preach de Gos- 
pel, de saddest thing dis side ob de grave. Our 
churches is plumbfull of hypocrites. If a man preaches 
de pure Gospel dey don't want to hear it. If we had 
de truth, white folks could live and Niggers could live. 
Dey tinks more of a bad person than dey does ob a 
good one. You let a man preach de true Gospel and 
he won't git many nickels in his pocket; but if he hol- 
lers and jumps he gits all the nickels he can hold and 
chickens besides. I has been in de cause forty-five 
years, and I knows what preachin' is, and I tell you, 
if our young race don' do better in ten years we're 
gone. Now, Mr. President, I fotch you a hog yester- 
day to help feed this conference, I hoped to see eight 
or nine in de pen, but mine is de only one. I'll bring 



410 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

you a hog or a cow next year. Father Washington, 
I'se a-gwine to stick to you as long as I live." 

One report for a county in Alabama said: *'We have 
one hundred families owning 4,000 acres of land, and 
not more than ten live in one-roomed houses.'' 
Another reported fifteen persons owning nearly 2,000 
acres and living in good houses. Many similar reports 
were given from other states. It is not always an easy 
matter for colored people to purchase land. Many 
land owners do not like to sell in small tracts ; others 
will not sell to Negroes. The mortgage system has no 
friends in this conference, not one word being raised in 
its favor. The tide is turning. Many are still, how- 
ever, sadly in its clutches but struggling hard to free 
themselves from its power. In one community the 
wives have an organization by which to reduce home 
expenses; instead of buying on credit at greatly in- 
creased prices, they bring together their butter, eggs, 
chickens and the like, till enough is collected to pur- 
chase one hundred pounds of meat for cash at half the 
price they formerly paid. This meat they divide 
among themselves and save money ; i, 300 pounds have 
thus been bought. The one-roomed cabin was thor- 
oughly discussed and the reports show that its days 
are numbered. Houses with two, three, four or five 
rooms are to be seen where formerly the cabin was 
thought to be sufficient. Tenants are demanding bet- 
ter houses, and land owners are forced to give them or 
lose good farm hands. 

Mr. R. L. Smith, of Oakland, Texas, a young man 
with only one arm, a school teacher, practical farmer, 
and a member of the state legislature, said: "About 
five years ago I began to look into the condition of my 
people. I found them making good crops, from one 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 411 

and a half to two bales of cotton per acre, but their 
homes were small and the influences surrounding them 
bad. In 1892 I started a society called the 'Village 
Improvement Society.' We have fifty-six members 
in a village of two hundred people. In five years 
fifteen families have spent $10,000 in improvements. 
The surrounding country has been helped by our work. 
Our smallest house now has four rooms in it and some 
have eight rooms. Last year we extended the order 
and called it 'The Farmers' Improvement Society,' 
with about seven hundred members. We have five 
purposes: to get out of debt, and keep out, to adopt 
improved methods of farming, to co-operate in buying 
and selling, to get homes and to improve them. 
* * * One result of our efforts has been a marked 
change in the treatment we have received from the 
white people. Texas is more liberal than most of the 
Southern states. I was more or less guided in my 
work by what I had heard or read of the Tuskegee 
conferences." Mr. Smith showed many pictures of 
homes and families in Oakland. He said he had car- 
ried on this work in connection with his school and 
farm, and that the legislature of Texas was so much 
interested in his coming to Tuskegee that it gave him 
a leave of absence and promised to defer action on a 
bill in which he was interested until his return home. 
A young teacher and farmer from Choctaw county 
said: "When we heard what Tuskegee was doing I 
said to our people, 'We can do it, too. ' So we organ- 
ized a conference in our county. We are under the 
mortgage system. Our labor is unskilled. Last year 
of twenty-five families with mortgages on their crops 
only twelve were able to pay them. Forty-four fam- 
ilies lived on rented lands in one 'beat,' six of them in 



412 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

houses with only one room ; some raised nothing but 
cotton. Twenty-four families have recently bought 
land, ten are building better homes, nine report that 
they lived for the year without a mortgage. The 
average length of our school term is three months. 
We have no school houses but use the churches, which 
are not fit for service in winter. Sixty per cent, of 
the teachers hold third-grade certificates, 30 per cent, 
second grade, and 4 per cent, first grade. Morals are 
better than they used to be ; women are treated better 
on the whole ; less whisky is used, and, as we have 
no railroads in our county, we are not troubled with 
excursions. We propose to organize conferences 
throughout the whole county and gradually bring the 
people up. Our people get money enough but don't use 
it right." 

Roscoe C. Bruce. — Roscoe C. Bruce, the son of Ex- 
Senator Bruce from Mississippi, who went from the 
colored high schools of Washington to Phillips Exeter 
Academy, New Hampshire, was honored in 1897 by 
an election as assistant editor for the magazine pub- 
lished by the students of that institution. The color 
line was not drawn here. Young Bruce is a remarka- 
bly bright and handsome fellow and has made many 
friends at Phillips Exeter. He has distinguished him- 
self for scholarship and oratory. He will graduate in 
1898 and will probably enter Harvard University. 
The catalogue of Harvard University now contains the 
names of six colored men, three of them in the senior 
class. In the "Life and Letters of Roscoe Conkling, " 
the circumstances under which young Bruce was 
named are given, and there apx^ears a letter from 
Senator Bruce in which he asks permission to christen 
his son in honor of Mr. Conkling, because when he first 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 413 

entered the senate chamber to take the oath of office 
Mr. Conkling was the first man to offer him welcome. 
**The effect upon some members of the senate," wrote 
Mr. Bruce, " was so marked that when I was called to 
be sworn in, my colleague, Mr. Alcorn, a man who 
owed his seat in the senate largely to my efforts, took 
refuge behind a newspaper to avoid extending the 
courtesy usual upon such occasions. It was at this 
point that the grasp of your hand — the first token of 
friendship that I had received — and your warm wel- 
come, made me feel and know that in that august body 
I had a friend. No one who has not undergone a 
similar ordeal can understand and appreciate my feel- 
ings on that occasion." 

Alabama appropriates $2,000 annually for the sup- 
port of a Normal School for the training of colored 
teachers. Nearly all the Southern States make annual 
contributions for the education of their colored 
citizens. 

Freedman's Savings Bank. — Still another agency 
in the education of the colored people was the Freed- 
man's Savings Bank. While it existed it was one of 
the most powerful agencies in the education of the 
colored people. The Freedman's Savings Bank was 
organized March 3, 1866. It had thirty- three branches, 
four of which were located in Georgia, at Atlanta, 
Macon, Augusta and Savannah. During the nine 
years of its existence the total deposits amounted to 
$56,000,000 for the entire South. 

When it failed it owed the colored people of Georgia 
$57,149.38. While its loss entailed great misery on 
many, it taught the colored people that they could 
save, and thus laid the basis of the material prosperity 
which has attended the efforts of the colored people of 



414 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Georgia. The colored people of Georgia pay taxes 
now on about $16,000,000 Vv^orth of real and personal 
property, and have, perhaps, not less than $2,000,000 
on deposit in the banks of the state and in bonds. 

Such were some of the various agencies which were 
at work during that early formative stage of Negro 
education. And such and so great was the work of 
preparing the colored people for the public school sys- 
tem which was inaugurated in 187 1. 

The Colored Press. — Considering the time since the 
Negro was freed there has been a remarkable advance- 
ment in providing literature for the colored people. 
There have been not a few authors of note of the race, 
but in the colored press we find a repetition of the 
press in general. There are in the United States be- 
tween three hundred and three hundred and fifty 
colored newspapers, the number varying with the 
campaigns, etc. There are at least twenty colored 
papers of large circulation and influence and standing ; 
among these may be mentioned : Tlie Christian Record, 
The Star of Zio7i, The American Baptist, The Christian 
Index and The Afro- American Presbyterian. The best 
secular papers are The New York Age, The Indianapolis 
Freeman, The Colored American, of Washington, D. C., 
The Richmond Plaiiet, and The Philadelphia Tribune. 

Character. — Of many of the papers for colored peo- 
ple it might be said, as of many other papers, that it 
would be better that they had no existence. The hope 
of the race lies in education. The colored man must 
read, and, as has been said before, it would be better 
for him not to read at all than to read the trashy liter- 
ature of today. While the colored press in a general 
way is doing much for the elevation of the Negro, yet 
the number of papers published and the large circula- 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 415 

tion of some of them is not a criterion of good work 
done. The press, pulpit and the platform have been 
great liberators of the nations, but, in order that this 
should be the case with the Afro- American press, like 
that of any race, there must be an ennobling and ele- 
vated tone. Without this the daily and weekly paper 
becomes a curse instead of a blessing. Records of 
riots, mobs, murders, and every-day misdoings do 
not elevate the morals of the reading public. Too 
often it is forgotten that the editorial chair requires 
more culture than is gotten by reading the newspapers, 
and to the detriment of the race there are those who 
are editing some of these race journals that ought to 
be relegated to the rear. 

Able Editors. — The editor who is sending out week 
by week into the families of his patrons, a paper that 
is to benefit its readers, ought to be able to grapple 
with the problems of the day, the problems upon 
which depend the elevation and the continued 
advancement of the race. With Dr. Crummell we 
believe that it would be better that many of these race 
journals were not to exist, because of the incompetency 
in the editorial management. Ministers, physicians, 
lawyers and leaders in general, can do much toward 
suppressing objectionable literature of today by advo- 
cating the patronizing only of such papers as are 
ennobling and are building up the race. Select your 
paper, not for its value in dollars and cents, but rather 
for the contents of its columns. 

Religious Papers. — Every family should have at 
least one religious paper. Even in religious papers 
some might be greatly improved, but when it comes 
to the secular paper it were much better not to take a 
paper at all than to allow the trashy and objectionable 



416 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

newspaper, that has no definite aim, to enter the 
home. Here is a field that ought not to be overlooked. 
The colored youth of today will read. 

Good Literature. — Let parents and leaders in society 
everywhere see to it that the literature placed in the 
hands of the youth of the race is ennobling, elevating 
and instructive, and a great forward movement will 
have been made in advancing the interests of the race 
in general. Banish the low, trashy and sensational 
literature from your homes. Avoid it as you would a 
pestilence, and your sons and daughters will in the 
future rise up and in improved manhood and woman- 
hood pronounce blessings upon your heads. 

The First Daily Newspaper published by the colored 
people was the Cairo Gazette, owned, edited and pub- 
lished by Hon. W. S. Scott, of Cairo, Illinois. The 
first issue came from the press April 23, 1882. 

First Newspaper in the South. — The first race news- 
paper published in the South for the colored men 
was the Colored American. It was published in Augusta, 
Georgia, and was edited by J. T. Shuften in 1865. 
We find the following description of this paper in the 
Afro- American Press: "It is designed to be a vehicle 
for the diffusion of religious, political and general intel- 
ligence. It will be devoted to the promotion of harmony 
and good will between the whites and colored people 
of the South, and uniting in its advocacy of industry 
and education among all classes ; but particularly the 
class most in need of our agency. It will steadfastly 
oppose all forms of vice that prey upon society, and 
give that counsel that tends to virtue, peace and pros- 
perity and happiness. " 



EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 



416a 



Rev. Thos. H. B. Walker was born in Tallahassee, 
Florida, in 1873. Like most colored boys of the 
South, he began life at the very bottom; but by his 
intelligence and perseverance, he has placed himself 
among the leaders of his race in the "black belt" of 
the South. Without money or special friends he 
worked his way through Cookman Institute, Jackson- 
ville, Florida. 




REV. THOS. H. B. WALKER. 



He was pastor of a church at the age of nineteen. 
In 1897 he was elected editor of TJic Sabbath School 
Batmer. The same year he organized the St. Joseph Aid 
Society, whose membership is now found in all parts 
of the South. 




n m m 



■ H y? B m 



DINING HALL AND DORMITORY. 



y^t%fflM 



rBH~w t5BP5H 




□ □. e — d 



HOSPITAL. 



PRESIDENT S RESIDENCE. 




Il ^'^ g-^^ ET 



TTrEn 



THE NEW DORMITORY 



THE NEW BUILDINGS 
SPELMAN SEMINARY, ATLANTA, GA. 

416b 



CHAPTER XIII. 

RELIGION AND THE NEGRO. 

A Religious Nature,— Whatever else the Negro may 
or may not possess, it is generally conceded that he has 
an intensely religious nature. His religion, it is true, 
does not always manifest itself according to the precise 
rules and requirements of cultured and refined society. 
He is sometimes boisterous, very demonstrative, and 
altogether emotional. By the superficial observer, 
these characteristics are regarded as extremely ludi- 
crous, if not disgusting, and are usually catalogued, 
with great self-complacency, among the "idiosyncrasies 
of the Negro. ' ' The thoughtful mind, however, recog- 
nizes beneath all these crudities a buoyant spirituality 
— a spiritualily which even the malign influences of 
slavery could not suppress. It was Burke who said, 
''Religion, to have any force upon men's under- 
standings, — indeed, to exist at all, — must be sup- 
posed paramount to law, and independent for its 
subsistence upon any human institution. " This glori- 
ous truth, arrived at through reasoning and reflec- 
tion by England's great political philosopher, seems 
to have been grasped intuitively by the ignorant 
Negro in the days of his bondage. Above the law 
that fixed his hard condition and held him therein, 
above the sophistry of ecclesiasticism that perverted 
truth to justify unrighteous legislation, his faith rose 
sublimely and took hold upon the unseen "Power that 
maketh for righteousness. ' ' 

Sustained by Faith. — It was this faith that sustained 

28 Progress *^'' 



^SSft^!^^^^^Sw^i^^^^^ 





i^, ■^> 




^^t^ . Avjgamy. 



/nyfj^'H^v.ri^-. 



BISHOP BENJAMIN TUCKER TANNER, KANSAS CITY, KANSAS. 

See sketch in Chapter XIV. 



418 






RELIGION AND THE NEGRO. 419 

him in his darkest hours, that caused melody to well 
up in his soul, and gush forth in his voice. It was 
this faith that enabled him to endure patiently, with- 
out cherishing feelings of vengeance against those 
whom he might justly have regarded as oppressors. 
Finally, it was this faith that formed the substratum 
of his preliminary training, however inadequate, for 
the larger life that was to be realized under freedom. 
By that mysterious influence," says Dr. Blyden, 
which is imparted to man independently of outward 
circumstances, to not a few of them the preaching of 
the Gospel, defective as was its practical exemplifica- 
tion, opened a new world of truth and goodness. There 
streamed into the darkness of their surroundings a 
light from the Cross of Christ, and they saw that, 
through suffering and affliction, there is a path to per- 
fect rest above this world ; and in the hours of the most 
degrading and exhausting toil, they sang of the eternal 
and the unseen ; so that while the scrupulous among 
their masters often, with Jefferson, "trembled for their 
country, ' ' the slaves who had gained a new language 
and new faculties were enjoying themselves in raptur- 
ous music — often laboring and suffering all day, and 
singing all night sacred songs which, in rude but 
impressive language, set forth their sad fortunes and 
their hopes for the future. 

Cheerful Music— No traveler in the South, who 
passed by the plantations thronged with dusky laborers, 
and listened to their cheerful music, could ever dream 
that they beheld in that suffering but joyous race the 
destroyers of the Southern whites. The captive Jews 
could not sing by the waters of Babylon, but the 
Negroes, in the dark dungeons of American slavery, 
made themselves harps and swept them to some of the 
most thrilling mslodies. " 



420 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Noticeable Fact. — It is a noticeable fact, and indic- 
ative of the susceptibility of the Negro's nature to 
religious influences, that, with such limited insight 
into divine truth, there should have sprung up all over 
the South among them so many effective preachers 
and exhorters — some of them men of extraordinary 
natural endowments. Stevens, in his history of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, has the following inter- 
esting statement: 

"Harry Hosier, better known as 'Black Harry,' was 
the traveling servant of Bishop Asbury, and had a 
popularity as a preacher which excelled that of the 
bishop himself. Dr. Rush, whose predilections for 
Methodist preaching are well known, did not disdain 
to hear him, and making allowance for his illiteracy 
(for he could not read), pronounced him the greatest 
orator in America. ' ' 

Genuineness. — As to the genuineness of the Negro's 
religion, the late Bishop Haygood has said: ''I know 
that the religious life of the colored people in the days 
of slavery was not what it ought to have been, yet 
among them were the holiest of men and women." 

Strangest Characteristic. — The same author has 
elsewhere expressed an opinion which those endeavor- 
ing to educate the race might do well to consider. He 
says: "As to my opinion — with as good opportunity as 
most men to know what the religious life of the col- 
ored people really is — I say unhesitatingly that his 
religion is his strongest and best characteristic. All 
there is of hope for him in this country will rise or fall 
with the healthy development or the decay of his 
religion." 

Progress Phenomenal. — Under freedom the religious 
progress of the race has been phenomenal. It would 



RELIGION AND THE NEGRO. 421 

be difficult to find its parallel in the whole history of 
missions. Over a million of these people are today 
within the communion of the Baptist churches. Con- 
siderably over a million more are within the Methodist 
fold, while they are to be found also in the Conj^n-ej^a- 
tional, Presbyterian, and other evangelical denomina- 
tions. As before the war, even so now, a goodly 
number of them are adherents of the Romish Church. 
They are intensely loyal to their denomination, and 
possess in a larger degree than many other people 
what is commonly called "church pride." 

Organizations. — The most remarkable, however, 
and at once the most promising feature in their 
religious development, is the organizations, which, 
independently of outside patronage, they have created 
and sustained. The African Methodist Episcopal 
Church, The Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, in 
America, are large and influential bodies, containing 
eight hundred thousand members or more. These 
bodies, officered and managed throughout by colored 
men, are ocular demonstrations of the capability of 
the race, and are inspiring in the people self-respect 
and self-reliance. Many of their general officers are 
men of great power and personal magnetism, while 
some have a national reputation. 

Liberality.— In the August (1897) mmiber of "The 
Gospel in All- Lands," appears the following with 
reference to the religious growth of the colored people 
since emancipation: 

"They have shown a remarkable degree of liber- 
ality in contributing toward religious purposes. Not- 
withstanding their poverty and the discouraging 
circumstances surrounding them, they have, in addition 



422 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

to the ordinary expenses of maintaining religious 
worship, including pastors' salaries, contributed prob- 
ably not less than ten million dollars for the erection 
of meeting houses. Some of these buildings are large, 
comparatively costly, convenient and attractive. 

Noble Achievements. — "They have done remarka- 
bly well, considering all the circumstances, in the mat- 
ter of educational, missionary, charitable, and philan- 
thropic work ; many of their religious institutions of 
learning being managed by Negro boards of trustees, 
taught by Negro teachers, and supported largely or 
entirely by themselves. They are also represented on 
the boards and in the faculties of the schools main- 
tained for them by Northern benevolence. The 
aggregate amount which they pay annually toward 
the education of their children in Christian institu- 
tions is a very considerable sum. They have their 
local, state, and national educational and missionary 
organizations, and are year by year making progress 
in the art of organization and administration. While 
they have very much yet to learn in the matter of sys- 
tematizing their beneficence, of keeping and rendering 
accurate accounts of mone}^ received and disbursed, 
they are apt learners, and are making good progress. 
They edit and publish numerous religious periodicals, 
some of them evincing vigor, independence, ^and no 
little ability." 

The Future. — With such a showing, made under the 
most discouraging circumstances, what may not be 
expected of the race under improved and constantly 
improving conditions? 

Churches Important, — There are at present between 
nine and ten millions of Negroes in this country. 
This includes all who have any computable fraction of 




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< 



U 

Si 

u 



U 



424 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Negro blood in their veins. All of these, with the 
exception of about five hundred thousand, are in the 
Southern states where the emancipation proclamation 
reached them and made them forever free from invol- 
untary bondage. The Negro churches of the South 
are, therefore, a large and important factor in the 
Christianity of that section. In point of church mem- 
bership the Negro is quite as devoted as are his white 
brethren. The proportion of colored people who are 
connected with the churches in the United States is 
larger than that which obtains among, the white 
people. 

Denominations. — As to denomination, the Negro is 
predominantly Baptist. More than one-half of all 
Negro communicants are of this faith ; next come the 
Methodists and other branches of the church. The 
increase in the number of colored communicants since 
the emancipation proclamation has been marvelous. 
There were at the outbreak of the war about 275,000 
Methodists of color, while at the present there are 
over a million. Colored Baptists in i860 did not 
exceed 250,000, while today they number 1,500,000. 

Helping Himself. — The Negro, considering the little 
wealth he had at command when slavery ceased, has 
achieved wonders in the accumulation of church prop- 
erty. The value of the churches he owns is $26,626,- 
000, the number of edifices being 23,770. Making 
due allowance for the generous help which the whites 
have given, it still appears that the Negro has not 
been unwilling to make large sacrifices for the sake of, 
religion, and that his industry, thrift and business 
capacity have been made to contribute to his successful 
endeavors to provide himself with suitable accommo- 
dations for public worship. 



RELIGION AND THE NEGRO. 425 

Sums Spent. — In education and evangelization amonj^ 
the Negroes, the various religious bodies have been 
specially active. Among these bodies the Congrega- 
tionalists claim to have spent $11,000,000 for the 
Negro, and spend now nearly $400,000 a year. The 
Methodists have spent since emancipation $6,000,000, 
and are now spending annually through the F reed- 
man's Aid and Southern Education Society §350,000; 
the Presbyterian Board of Missions for Freedmen in 
twenty years have spent $2,400,000, and in addition to 
this contribution founded Lincoln University, Penn- 
sylvania, in 1859. The Baptists since 1865, $3,000,000; 
the Southern Presbyterian Church, $55,000, between 
1878 and 1894; the Christian Church, $100,000. This 
vast outlay has produced a result known and read of 
all men. No man has attempted to deny the statement 
that the Negro has improved intellectually. Not even 
the bitterest of his enem.ies have denied this statement, 
and it may be said modestly that there are men and 
women among the Negroes who can compare favor- 
ably with some of the best of the other race. 

Christian Ministry. — Professor Bowen says: "A 
vital question in this consideration is, has the character 
of the Negro Christian Ministry improved? The bald 
statement of truth is that the distance between the 
ministry of today and that of slavery days, or the days 
immediately following freedom, cannot be measured 
in words. Then, we had no regularly constituted 
Negro ministry. A few of our fathers in whose heart 
the 'woe is me if I preach not' burned with an un- 
quenchable fire, were permitted to speak occasionally 
to the slaves, and that under the freezing gaze of an 
overseer's eye, and to this day it is a miracle unsolved 
how God preserved a knowledge of the truth through 



426 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

the broken vessels of thought amid the dervish wor- 
ship of the ignorant slaves. 

Educated and Consecrated. — Since that day there 
has been a constant stream of educated and consecrated 
ministers flowing into the ranks of the Negro popu- 
lation. These have been trained in the great universi- 
ties of the North. Besides these, there have gone 
forth from the institutions established in the South for 
colored people large numbers of genuinely consecrated 
ministers of every denomination. Whether it be 
accepted or reflected, the fact is that there are in Negro 
pulpits all over the land and in the South some Negro 
preachers who, in intellectual ability, in moral power 
and purity, and in spiritual insight and breadth of wis- 
dom, are the equal of some of the best of the Anglo- 
Saxon race." 

CHURCHES. 

Regular Baptists (Colored). — The colored Baptists 
of the South constitute the most numerous of regular 
Baptists. Not all colored Baptists are embraced in 
this division ; only those who have separate churches, 
associations, and state conventions. There are many 
colored Baptists in Northern states, who are mostly 
counted as members of churches belonging to white 
associations. None of them are included in the fol- 
lowing estimates and flgures. 

The first convention of colored Baptists was organ- 
ized in North Carolina in 1866, the second in Alabama, 
and the third in Virginia in 1867, the fourth in Arkansas 
in 1868, and the fifth in Kentucky in 1869. There are 
colored conventions in fifteen states and the District 
of Columbia. 

In addition to these organizations the colored Bap- 
tists of the United States have others more general in 




THANKFUL BAPTIST CHURCH, AUGUSTA. GEORGIA. 



427 



425 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

character: The American National Convention, the 
purpose of which is "to consider the moral, intellectual 
and religious growth of the denomination, ' ' to delib- 
erate upon questions of general concern, and to devise 
methods of bringing the churches and members of the 
race together; the Consolidated American Missionary 
Convention, the General Association of the Western 
States and Territories, the Foreign Mission Conven- 
tion of the United Stater., and the New England 
Missionary Convention. All except the first are mis- 
sionary in their purpose. 

The Regular Baptists (colored) are represented 
in fifteen states, all in the South, or on the border, 
and the District of Columbia. In Virginia and Georgia 
they are very numerous, having in the latter 200,516, 
and in the former 199,871 communicants. In Alabama 
they have 142,437; in North Carolina, 134,445; in 
Mississippi, 136,647; in South Carolina, 125,572, and 
in Texas, 111,138 members. The aggregate is 1,348,- 
989 members, who are embraced in 12,533 organizations, 
with 11,987 church edifices, and church property 
valued at $9,038,549. There are 414 associations, of 
which 66 are in Alabama, 63 in Georgia, 49 in Missis- 
sippi, and 39 in North Carolina. 

African Methodist Episcopal. — This branch of 
American Methodism was organized in Philadelphia in 
1 81 6 by a number of colored members of Methodist 
Episcopal Church. They withdrew from the parent 
body in order that they might have larger privileges 
and more freedom of action among themselves than 
they believed they could secured in continued associa- 
tion with their white brethren. The Rev. Richard 
Allen was elected the first bishop of the new church 
by the same convention that organized it. In the 



RELIGION AND THE NEGRO. 429 

year 1787 Mr. Allen had been made the leader of a 
class of forty persons of his own color. A few years 
later he purchased a lot at the corner of Sixth and 
Lombard streets, Philadelphia, where the first church 
erected in this country for colored ]\Iethodists was occu- 
pied in 1794. This site is now covered by an edifice 
dedicated in 1890, valued at $50,000. 

In doctrine, government and usage, the church d(jes 
not essentially differ from the body from which it 
sprang. It has an itinerant and a local or non-ilincrant 
ministry, and its territory is divided into annual con- 
ferences. It has a general conference, meeting once 
every four years; bishops or itinerant general super- 
intendents, elected for life, who visit the annual 
conferences in the episcopal districts to which they are 
assigned, and presiding elders, who exercise sub- 
episcopal oversight in the districts into which the 
annual conferences are divided, and it has the proba- 
tionary system for new members, with exhorters, class 
leaders, stewards, stewardesses, etc. 

There are in the United States, 2,481 organizations; 
4,124 edifices, with church property valued at §6,468,- 
280, and 452,725 communicants or members. 

The church is widely distributed, having congrega- 
tions in forty-one states and territories. The states 
in which it is not represented are the two Dakotas, 
Idaho, Maine, Nevada, New Hampshire and Vermont, 
the territories being Alaska, Oklahoma, and Arizona. 
Its members are most numerous in South Carolina, 
where there are 88,172. Georgia comes second with 
73,248; Alabama third, with 30,781; Arkansas fourth, 
with 27,956; Mississippi fifth, -with 25,439; Tennessee 
has 23,718; Texas 23,392, and Florida 22,463. In no 
other state does the number reach 17,000. The eight 



430 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Southern states above given report 315,169 members, 
or considerably more than two-thirds of the entire 
membership of the church. 

African Union Methodist Protestant. — This body, 
which has a few congregations divided among eight 
states, came into existence at about the same time the 
African Methodist Episcopal Church was organized 
(18 1 6), differing from the latter chiefly in objections 
to the itineracy, to a paid ministry, and to the episco- 
pacy. It has two annual conferences, with 40 organi- 
zations, 27 church edifices, church property valued at 
$55,440, and 3,415 communicants. 

African Methodist Episcopal Zion. — A congregation 
of colored people, organized in New York city, in 1796, 
was the nucleus of the African Methodist Episcopal 
Zion Church. This congregation originated in a 
desire of colored members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church to hold separate meetings, in which they 
*' might have an opportunity to exercise their spiritual 
gifts among themselves, and thereby be more useful 
to one another." They built a church, which was 
dedicated in 1800, the full name of the denomination 
subsequently organized being given to it. The church 
entered into an agreement in 1 801, by which it was to 
receive certain pastoral supervision from the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church. It had preachers of its own 
who supplied its pulpits in part. In 1820 this arrange- 
ment terminated, and in the same year a union of 
colored churches in New York, New Haven, Long 
Island, and Philadelphia was formed and rules of gov- 
ernment adopted. Thus was the African Methodist 
Episcopal Zion Church formally organized. 

The first annual conference was held in 1821. It 
was attended by nineteen preachers, representing six 



RELIGION AND THE NEGRO. 431 

churches and 1,426 members. Next year, James 
Varick was chosen superintendent of the denomina- 
tion, which was extended over the states of the North, 
chiefly, until the close of the civil war, when it entered 
the South to organize many churches. 

In its policy, lay representation has long- been a 
prominent feature. Laymen are in its annual confer- 
ences as well as in its general conferences, and there 
is no bar to the ordination of women. Until 1880 its 
superintendents, or bishops, were elected for a term of 
four years. In that year the term of the office was 
made for life or during a good behavior. Its system 
is almost identical with that of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, except the presence of laymen in the annual 
conference, the election of presiding elders on the nom- 
ination of the presiding bishop, instead of their 
appointment by the bishop alone, and other small 
divergences. 

Its general conference meets quadrennially. Its 
territory is divided into seven Episcopal districts, to 
each of which a bishop is assigned by the general con- 
ference. 

The church is represented in twenty-eight states 
and the District of Columbia. It is strongest in North 
Carolina, where it has 111,949 communicants. Ala- 
bama comes next with 79,231 communicants; South 
Carolina third, with 45,880, and Florida fourth, with 
14,791. There are in all 1,704 organizations; 1,587 
church edifices; church property valued at $2,714,128, 
and 349,788 communicants. 

Colored Methodist Episcopal.— The Colored Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church was organized in 1870, of 
colored members and ministers of the M. E. Church, 
South. Before the war this church did a large cvan- 




FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, ATLANTA, GEORGIA. 



432 



RELIGION AND THE NEGRO. 433 

gelistic work among the Negroes. Many of the Negro 
slaves received the gospel from the same preachers 
and in the same churches as their masters, the galleries 
or a portion of the house being assigned to them. For 
those who were not privileged to attend organized 
churches, special missions were begun as early as 1829. 
In 1845 there were 124,000 members of the slave pop- 
ulation, and in i860 207,000 members. In 1866, after 
the opening of the South to Northern churches had 
given the Negro members opportunity to join the A. 
M. E. Church, the A. M. E. Zion and other Methodist 
bodies, it was found that there were only 78,000 mem- 
bers left. The General Conference of 1866 authorized 
these colored members to be organized into separate 
conferences, and in 1870 two bishops were appointed 
to organize the colored conferences into a separate and 
independent church. This church has the same articles 
of religion, the same form of government, and the 
same discipline as its parent body. Its bishops arc 
elected for life. 

Bishop Holsey declares that the great aim of the 
church is to evangelize the Negro, and to educate and 
elevate him. There are 23 annual conferences, 129,383 
members. There are 1,750 organizations, with 1,653 
church edifices. Valuation of property, $1,713,366. 
This church is strongest in Georgia, where it has more 
than 2 2, coo members, Mississippi comes next wiili 
20,000, Tennessee third, with 18,968, and Alabama 
fourth, with 18,940. 

Congregational Methodists (Colored).— This body 
consists of congregations of colored members organ- 
ized into conferences by presidents of the Congrega- 
tional Methodist Church, to which it corresponds in all 
particulars of doctrine, polity and usage. The only 

29 Progress 



434 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

difference in the churches of the two bodies is that 
they are composed of white and colored persons, 
respectively. There are in all nine organizations and 
319 communicants. 

Cumberland Presbyterian (Colored). — This body 
was organized in May, 1869, at Murfreesboro, Ten- 
nessee, under the direction of the General Assembly 
of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. It was con- 
stituted of colored ministers and members who had 
been connected with that church. Its first synod, the 
Tennessee, was organized in 187 1, and its general 
assembly in 1874. It has the same doctrinal symbol 
as the parent body, and the same system of govern- 
ment and discipline, differing only in race. It has 
twenty-three presbyteries, and is represented in nine 
states and one territory. It has 224 organizations, 
183 church edifices, 12,956 communicants and church 
property valued at $195,826. 

It has 81 organizations, 72 church edifices, with an 
approximate seating capacity of 24,125 ; 7 halls with a 
seating capacity of 825 ; its church property is valued at 
$88,660, with 2,202 communicants or members. 

Sunday School Union of the A. M. E. Church. — Of 
all the public institutions owned and controlled by 
Afro-Americans, the Sunday School Union of the 
African Methodist Episcopal Church deserves special 
mention. From a purely business standpoint, it has 
been a decided success. 

Organized August 11, 1882, it has just completed 
the first fifteen years of its existence. What as to 
results? It is the first colored religious denomination 
to adopt "Children's Day" as an anniversary of annual 
observance, and to apply the collections received there- 
from to the extension of Sunday school work. It is 



RELIGION AND THE NEGRO. 435 

the first colored religious organization in the world to 

purchase and possess 
real estate paid for 
by moneys raised ex- 
clusively by Sunday 
....school children. Ii 
is the first colored 
;:' religious denomina- 
• tion to issue a series 
o f graded Sunday 
■^■. school helps, such as 
quarterlies, and les- 
son papers. It is the 
first colored religious 
denomination to 
print and publish 
with the aid of its 
own machinery and 
material Sunday 
school literature and 
requisites. 

From the returns 
of Children's Day, it 
has received $56,- 
' 9^9- 5 7> while the 
receipts to business 
aggregate $158,658. 

It has donated to 
needy S u n d a )' 
schools, in the way 
of books and periodi- 
cals, $5,057.98. 

It owns a solid stone front, brick building, situated 
on the public square, in Nashville, Tennessee, which 




436 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

is of inestimable value to the A. M. E. Church, and 
would not be parted with for any sum less than f 25,000. 
It is five stories high, including the basement. 

Its periodicals have a circulation in almost every 
state and territory in the West Indies and West and 
South Africa. 

Its property and business is easily worth $40,000, 
and is free and unencumbered, except a current debt 
of $1,500, which is partially offset by a cash balance. 

It has never assumed the attitude of a public beggar, 
nor asked a white person for a single penny. Its 
support from all sources has come absolutely and 
exclusively from colored people. 

Its founder, Charles Spencer Smith, has been its 
secretary and treasurer from its organization to the 
present. 

Items. — Hon. Frederick Douglass, in his early life, 
was a local preacher in the A. M. E. Zion Church. 

The first A. M. E. Zion church established south of 
the Mason and Dixon line, was St. Peter's at New- 
berne. North Carolina, in 1862. 

The American Baptist Home Missionary Society 
has expended in Georgia for educational work among 
the 200,000 Negroes there, more than $500,000. Two 
of the most important schools — Spelman Seminary 
and the Baptist College — are located at Atlanta. 

The colored Baptists of the United States report a 
membership of 1,348,000, with 11,000 ordained minis- 
ters; 13,000 church buildings, val-yied at $10,000,000, 
and 9,000 Sunday schools, with more than 500,000 
scholars. ' , 

Rev. Lott Carey was born in Virginia in 1780, and 
died November 10, 1828, in Liberia. He was the first 
colored American missionary to Africa. 



RELIGION AND THE NEGRO. 437 

Fully nine-tenths of the colored church mcm]:>ers 
are Methodists and Baptists, and between these two 
they are pretty equally divided. 

The oldest colored church in the South is I':vans' 
Chapel, Fayetteville, North Carolina (A. U. E. Zion). 

Remember, Christian Negroes black as Cain may 
be refined and join the angelic tTam.~r/ii//is Whecitlcy. 

Negroes are more religious than white folks. They 
are more emotional. Emotion is not a virtue, for some 
emotionalists are sadly wanting in all the virtues. 

The amount of knowledge a man has docs not 
secure his usefulness if he has so taken it in that he is 
lop-sided. — Blydeii. 

If a man wants to know his own strength, he need 
not measure himself. He needs only to size up the 
fellows who are pulling against him to find out how 
strong he is. — Bishop Grant. 

Rev. E. C. Morris, D. D., born May 7, 1855, was a 
native of Murray county, Georgia. He and his 
parents were slaves until liberated by the Emancipa- 
tion Proclamation of "Father Abraham." 

His early educational advantages were limited to 
the common school, but as he was a careful student 
and a close observer, his knowledge of men and cur- 
rent events made him a practical business man and a 
wise adviser. 

In 1879 he took the pastorate of the Centennial Bap- 
tist church of Helena, Arkansas, which position he has 
held continuously to the present time. His ability is 
also recognized as an organizer in educational, mis- 
sionary and literary interests. He established, and for 
two years edited the first religious paper published by 
his race in the state of Arkansas. In 1SS4, he organ- 
ized the Arkansas Baptist College, and for sixteen 



438 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



years has been chairman of its board of trustees. For 
nineteen years he has been president of the Baptist 
state convention. Since 1894 he has been president of 




REV. E. C. MORRIS, D. D. 



the National Baptist convention, the largest delibera- 
tive body of negroes in the world. It was his active 
brain that conceived the idea of the National Baptist 



RELIGION AND THE NEGRO. 



430 



Young People's Union Board. In addition to his 
other duties, that of editor-in-chief of the "C(jnven- 
tion Teacher" was undertaken by his energetic hand. 





REV. M. W. D. NORMAN, D. D. 

Rev. M. W. D. Norman, D. D.-Rev. Moses W. a 
Norman of North Carolina was educated at Plymouth 
Normal School and Shaw University. In the fall of 
1893 he was appointed Professor of Theology m Shaw 



440 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



University. This position he resigned in 1896 to 
accept the presidency of Roanoke Institute. 




MRS. HENRIETTA M. ARCHER, 

Principal of the Department of Latin and Music in 
A. & M. College, Normal, Ala., and Associate with 
the National Colored Woman's Association. 

Provident Hospital. — This institution, located at 
Chicago, was founded in 1891, and incorporated 
through the united efforts of a few earnest men. With 
the exception of Freedman's Hospital at Washington, 
it is the only institution engaged in special work in 
behalf of the colored people. It is unique in its 



V 



RELIGION AND THE NEGRO. 441 

character, and those for whom its benefits are more 
specially intended are grateful for and appreciative of 
its advantages. 

Training School for Nurses.— In it is established a 
school in which young colored women are fitted for 
nurses, and thus a new field for their independence has 
been developed. A course of two years has been laid 
out, and already three classes have graduated. 
In addition to the regular hospital duties, visiting 
nurses are sent out among the poor and sick colored 
people, with most gratifying results. 

Receipts. — The fifth annual report of the board of 
trustees gives as the total receipts nearly $30,000, of 
which more than $11,000 were voluntarily contributed 
by patients themselves, and the remainder by friends 
of the institution. 

Patients. — The number of colored patients in the 
hospital for the first five years was 655. 

Gra^titude. — Words cannot express the gratitude of 
the colored people in the establishment of this home 
which has brought new and liberal facilities to the 
needy of the colored race. 

Hale Infirmary. — In Montgomery, Alabama, in the 
eastern part of the city, near Hall street, is a large 
eighteen-room building with this inscription on the 
corner-stone: "Infirmary, given by James Hale, for 
the benefit of his race, and erected by his wife, as a 
memorial to their deceased daughter and son, Sarah 
and James. " 

It was the desire of James Hale to do something to 
help the poor and aged of his people, but before he 
was able to carry out his plans, he was called away to 
"that home over there," in the heavenly city of rest. 
He told his wife, however, to carry out his wishes: 



RELIGION AND THE NEGRO. 443 

and, faithful to her promise to her dying husband, this 
good woman did not cease work until the desires of her 
husband were fulfilled. And indeed, although the in- 
firmary is in full operation today, she has not stopped 
work, but is going about among the poor, the aged 
and the homeless, doing all she can to lighten their 
burdens of life. Those who are sick, those who 
are alone, those who have no homes, and those who 
have fallen among thieves, she is lifting them up, 
building up their wounds and taking them to her inn, 
the Hale Infirmary. " The property as it stands today 
is worth $7,000, and, knowing the needs of my people 
as I do, I can say for a truth, James Hale could not 
have left his money to a better cause. Our people 
have been buying church property and building 
churches and preparing to live in heaven, for more 
than a generation. To this I have no objection, buV 
I think the time is near at hand when we should begin 
to mix a little business with our religion, and while 
building our churches, let us also build hom^es for our- 
selves, homes for the orphans, the poor and the aged 
of our race, and also infirmaries and hospitals where 
the lame, sick and the injured can be cared for." 

Mrs. Watts' Orphanage.— At Covington, Georgia, 
is located an institution which is doing much good for 
the state and for our people. There, in that quiet 
Httle city, is an orphanage and industrial school under 
the management of Mrs. D. Pace Watts. That good 
woman is toiling on with her work, spending her earn- 
ings and her life, all for the good she may do for the 
poor and parentless of her race, and is building up the 
kingdom of God among them, and, in her way, as best 
she can, is teaching them how to make honest and 
honorable citizens. 



444 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

How sweet must be the lives of those who pass be- 
yond the whirlpool of society and lose themselves in 
the midst of spiritual work among the poor, the friend- 
less, the motherless and the fatherless of the communi- 
ties in which they live. There they work and pray to 
make the world better, often without pay, without 
thanks, and without encouragement, but they labor on 
with the belief that some day, and somewhere, they 
will be rewarded. 

Such has been the life work of Mrs. Diana Pace 
Watts. She has toiled with her work at Covington 
almost single-handed, and has overcome many obsta- 
cles. The extent of her work cannot be told in such 
a short article ; suffice it to say, however, she is doing 
much good for her race and the state, and deserves 
the co-operation and support of all who are interested 
in Christian work among the lowly. 

To Rescue Colored People.— The Rev. George W. 
Dickey, pastor of the Burning Bush Mission, Chicao-o 
Illinois, recently purchased the three-story brick build- 
ing at 2838 Dearborn street, for the purpose of con- 
verting it into a home for homeless and unfortunate 
women. It will be called a Rescue and Industrial 
institute. The plan has been under consideration for 
some time, and recently a few wealthy Baptists took 
hold of the matter, with the Rev. Mr. Dickey, and the 
result is that the home will be opened as soon as the 
alterations can be made in the two upper floors. 

The property cost $10,500, and is a three-story brick 
building, 25x98 feet, on a lot no feet deep. There 
will be sleeping apartments on the top floor, and on 
the second floor the women will be taught sewing, 
housekeeping, cooking, stenography, and typewriting, 
and whatever else will enable them to be self-support- 



CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS. 



445 



ing-. The plan of Rev. Dickey is one of several to 
give practical aid to the nnemployed among the col- 
ored people. The Rev. Dickey, in speaking of his 
work, says: 

"We need to do something for our young women. 




AMANDA SMITH. 



They come to Chicago in large numbers from the South 
every year, and drift about in this great city without 
any guidance or friends. In a short while they go to 
the dogs. It is the one reason why one can go into 



446 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

the various stations of the city and see such a large 
percentage of colored criminals. I think it is about 
time for the Christian people to bestir themselves and 
do something practical in the way of giving protection 
and kindly assistance to unemployed colored men and 
women. Our home is established for this purpose. 
And, while we are colored people, I can assure you 
that we will not close our doors against the needy of 
any race or color. ' ' 

Amanda Smith Industrial Orphan Home for Col- 
ored Children. — Amanda Smith, who has labored 
much for the elevation of her people, was greatly im- 
pressed with the need of an orphan home for colored 
children, and in 1895 secured possession of a property 
in North Harvey, Chicago, Illinois, worth $6,000. 
Through the sale of her book, evangelistic work and 
donations, she has already secured considerable 
toward the payment for the building. She is putting 
all her time and strength into collecting funds so that 
the Home may be free of debt. While she is spend- 
ing her time in the evangelistic field, and in collecting 
for the orphanage, her permanent address is 2940 South 
Park avenue, Chicago, Illinois. 

There is no doubt that this institution will be a 
great blessing to the colored people of Chicago and the 
North when it is once fully established. 

Other Institutions.— The presence of the orphanage 
at Covington, the Carrie Steele Orphans' Home, and 
the Carter Home for old people and boys, in Atlanta, 
the Old Folks' Home at Norfolk, Virginia, the Old 
Folks' Home at Philadelphia, the Orphans' Home at 
St. Louis, and the Home for Working Girls at Wash- 
ington, D. C, are only some of the evidences which 
show to what extent and with what earnestness the 
women of our race have entered upon the work. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

NOTED PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 
FORERUNNERS OF LIBERTY. 

Frederick Douglass, the most remarkable man of 
Negro blood yet produced in the United States was 
born in Talbot county, Maryland, in February, 1817, 
and had just completed his seventy-eighth year, at the 
time of his death. He was the mulatto son of a slave 
mother, and consequently himself born a slave. At a 
very early age he went to Baltimore to live, where he ac- 
quired a rudimentary education. His owner allowed him 
to employ his own time at three dollars per week, and he 
obtained work in a shipyard. When just twenty-one 
years old he ran away to New York, and from there went 
to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he supported 
himself as a laborer. He came, by some means, undci 
the observation of William Lloyd Garrison, who assist td 
his efforts at self -education, and under Garrison's aus- 
pices he was brought out as an orator at abolition meet- 
ings in New England. In 1841 he attended an anti- 
slavery meeting at Nantucket, and made a speech that 
brought him into national notice. After this, as agent 
of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, he traveled 
through the Northern states making abolition speeches. 
Anti-slavery agitation was a sensitive and exciting 
theme at that period of the coitntry's history, and the 
bold utterances of the colored orator, the first person 
of his race to display such capability, made him a very 
much discussed person. He afterward edited The 
North Star, an abolition paper, at Rochester, New 
York, and published one or two books giving his 

447 



^!'jSiSPP»5'w5J!!55 



dsi:mmd»kmi^mmmsimMm^ 





HON. FREDRICK DOUGLASS. 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 449 

experience as a slave, and intended to promote the 
then fast growing- abolition sentiment. 

The Maryland family to whom Douglass had always 
belonged as a slave were named Lloyds, but after 
going North he adopted for himself the name he has 
since borne. When he had become distinguished his 
friends in England raised a purse of $750 with which 
his freedom was legally purchased. 

He visited England in 1845, and made many speeches 
there that were well received. He was charged with 
conspiracy in the John Brown raids into Virginia in 
1859, and Governor Wise made a requisition for his 
arrest on the governor of Michigan. Legal complica- 
tions were avoided by a second visit to England. Of 
this visit Douglass later beautifully said: ''I fled from 
the talons of the American eagle to nestle in the mane 
of the British lion. ' ' When the Civil War broke out he 
.urged emancipation and the employment of the Negro 
troops. Later he was active in organizing Negro regi- 
ments in the North. After the war he held various 
offices under Republican administration. Mr. Cleveland 
removed him from his office of Recorder of Deeds of 
the District of Columbia in 1886, and three years later 
Mr. Harrison made him minister to Hayti, the last 
official position that he filled. The Haytian govern- 
ment made him one of the commissioners for its exhibit 
at the Columbian Exposition at Chicago. 

In early life, while residing at New Bedford, Mas- 
sachusetts, Douglass was married to a woman of his 
own color, by whom he had two sons and a daughter, 
who survive him. A few years ago he was married to 
Helen Pitts, a white woman from New England, who 
was employed as clerk in the office when he was 
Recorder of Deeds. In appearance, Douglass' Cau- 
se Progress 



450 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

casian blood was very manifest. He was of bright com- 
plexion, with prominent, clearly defined features, and 
hair only slightly curly. In old age he wore his hair 
and beard long, which gave him an air at once striking 
and venerable. His oratorical gift was of no ordinary 
quality, and no man in American public life was a 
greater factor in that agitation which led up to the 
events of 1860-65, ^^^ created such a revolution in the 
country's condition. He leaves a fortune, the accu- 
mulation of savings during a long life, estimated by 
some as high as §200,000. 

William Lloyd Garrison relates the following story of 
Douglass and Sojourner Truth, a character as remark- 
able in her way as Douglass was in his. She was a 
thorough African of unmixed blood, gaunt and black. 
She was born a slave in New York, and emancipated 
when slavery was abolished in that state. She could 
neither read nor write, whereas Douglass had educated 
himself and was the peer of any so-called self-educated 
white man. At an anti-slavery meeting, when the 
aspect of affairs was particularly dark, Douglass was 
speaking and indulging in gloomy views of the situa- 
tion. Sojourner, who was a listener, and was pos- 
sessed with an intense religious faith, was disturbed 
at the tone of his despondency, and in a moment 
relieved her feelings and those of the meeting as well, 
by saying in her deep voice: "Is God dead, Fred- 
erick?" Nobody could appreciate the hit better than 
himself, and the closing remarks were in a more hope- 
ful strain. 

Hon. Josiah T. Settle, of Memphis, says: "On one 
occasion, some time before emancipation, he attended 
the Fourth of July celebration, I think, at Rochester; 
he was then a man of international fame, and was 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 451 

called upon to speak I have not seen the speech in 
print for more than thirty years, but as I read it then 
and remember it now, taken in connection with the 
times and circumstances under which it was made, the 
man and the occasion, nothing could have been more 
truly eloquent. When he arose and looked over his 
audience, among other things he said: 'Why am I 
called upon to speak on an occasion such as this? 
Why should I celebrate your Fourth of July? What 
freedom have I and my people to celebrate? Above 
your shouts and the roar of your cannon I can hear 
the crack of the slave whip, the clanking of the chains, 
and the groans of my oppressed brethren in the South. 
Your rejoicings do but fill to overflowing my cup of bit- 
terness. You were willing to bare your breasts to cannon 
to evade a tax on tea, but you turn a deaf ear to three 
millions of human beings, made in the image of God, 
w^ho are vainly pleading to you in chains that they may 
own their own bodies, and that they may be protected 
in the commonest ties of husband and wife, parent and 
child. While you celebrate the anniversary of your 
independence, you have coiled up in the youthful 
bosom of your republic the serpent of slavery, sucking 
her life's blood, and sending its poison into every mem- 
ber of h^r body. Your Declaration of Independence 
is a lie ! And your flag contaminates the very air of 
God. Every stripe upon it represents the blood and 
bondage of my people, and every star glitters to your 
country's shame.' " 

From a memorial address in "Talks for the Times," 
we take the following ; "If I were asked to sum up in 
a word what made Frederick Douglass great, I should 
say a noble purpose, fixed and unchangeable, a pur- 
pose to render to mankind the largest possible ser\nce. 



452 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Verily, he has served iis well, faithfully, unselfishly, 
and now, full of years, and full of honors, loaded with 
such distinctions as this poor world has to give, he 
dies, dies as he lived, a brave, strong, good man. No 
more shall we behold that manly form. No more 
shall we listen to those eloquent lips upon which, for 
over fifty years, so many thousands have hung with 
rapture, those eloquent lips that made his name 
famous in two hemispheres, and will surely keep it 
so as long as freedom has a history. God grant that 
the mantle of this old hero may fall upon a worthy 
successor ! God grant that our young men, contemplat- 
ing his life and emulating his example, may be lifted 
up to a higher conception of life, of duty, of responsi- 
bility, of usefulness!" 

William Still. — We abridge the following from the 
"Life of William Still," as it is given in the revised 
edition of the "Underground Railroad": 

His parents. Levin and Sidney, were both slaves 
on the eastern shore of Maryland. "Massa, I'd sooner 
die than stay a slave!" was the declaration of his 
father to his young master before either was twenty- 
one years of age. The master saw that it would be 
impossible to change this determination of the slave, 
and felt that it would be policy under the circum- 
stances to drive the best bargain he could. He decided 
to sell him to himself, or in other words, give him 
the chance of buying his freedom. The price was 
named and accepted by the slave. His former dili- 
gence was now doubly taxed to complete the hard task 
©f working out his freedom. At last, by dint of perse- 
verance and economy^ he succeeded. Being free, he 
could not breathe the air tainted by slavery, hence, 
severing the sacred ties of family, bidding good-bye 



/ 
PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 453 

to his wife and four children (two boys and two girls), 
and trusting God for the future, he started northward 
and located near Greenwich, New Jersey. The wife 
felt more keenly than ever the yoke of bondage ; she, 
too, resolved to break it, but not in the tedious way 
her husband had done. For the sake of liberty and of 
being reunited to her husband, she resolved to accept 
the trials and dangers of escape, and if not successful, 
the death which such an attempt often involved. 
Under the influence of a mighty resolution, hoping for 
such indirect aid as her husband could furnish, she set 
out with her four children on her toilsome fugitive 
journey. Then came days of watching, waiting and 
fear of detection, nights perilous with forced travel, 
times of despair as swamps and forests interposed, 
rivers intervened or starvation threatened. Success 
crowned her perils and sacrifices. The father's heart 
and hand had been diligent in her movements, as she 
had anticipated. The family was joyfully reunited, 
and a home was provided near Greenwich. The old 
name of Steele became Still. Every precaution was 
taken to preserve the secret of their past existence. 
But the scent of the slave hunter was not to be baffled 
by these precautions. In a few months, a capturing 
gang, terrible as an army with banners, suddenly 
pounced upon the peaceful household, and the wife 
and four children were dragged back to their old slave 
quarters in Maryland. Liberty's draught once tasted, 
the lips of the slave mother longed for it again. Plans 
for a second attempt were laid. None seemed feasible 
that included her four children. Agonizing as was 
the thought of severing herself from her children, she 
could not overcome the dreadful alternative by any 
ingenuity of her own. At last, the plan was laid out ; 



454 PROGRESS OF A RACE, 

she would leave her two boys under the care of her 
dear mother, who was also in bondage. What tears 
watered the sad conclusion ! She would save the girls, 
the youngest and weakest. The sorrowful night came. 
Nerved for the hour and the painful occasion, she 
rushed to the little straw bed on which her four chil- 
dren were sleeping, kissed her boys farewell without 
waking them, clasped her two little girls in her 
strong, true arms, bade her mother good-bye, and 
trusting in God, began again the perilous march to 
freedom. Not recounting the trials and hardships and 
dangers overcome, she reached the free soil of New 
Jersey, and rejoined her husband with her two little 
girls. And now greater precaution was necessary, 
hence a home in the depths of the Jersey pines, seven 
miles east of Medford, was chosen. Guarding their 
family history, working peaceably and industriously, 
dealing honestly, walking reverently. Levin Still was 
permitted to escape the pursuit of the slave hunter, 
and to enjoy the blessings of home. His acres became 
his own ; thrift brought this reward to him. His family 
increased until it numbered eighteen children in all, 
the youngest of whom was William Still, the subject 
of our sketch. Suffice it to say of the two sons in 
slavery, that they were sold and taken South. One of 
them died in slavery, and the other, Peter Still, 
returned to the family forty years later. When old 
enough, William began to work on the farm, the stock 
of which consisted of a horse and a yoke of oxen. The 
cranberry meadows near by furnished employment 
for him and his brothers. In the winter, the Still 
family were occupied in putting up cordwood. In the 
rich agricultural district west of Medford, he succeeded 
in obtaining work during harvest, always receiving 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 455 

kind treatment and good wages. Whisky was served, 
according to custom, to the harvest hands. One day, 
William, exhausted by the heat, and his efforts to do 
a full hand's work, was induced to take a drink. It 
sickened him so that he was forced to return home, 
and report a quarter of a day's work lost labor. This 
humiliated him so that he resolved never to touch the 
accursed stuff again. If there is anything in his life 
of which he is proud, it is the faithful keeping of the 
vow then registered. 

William received no schooling until he was seventeen 
years of age, when a teacher was secured who was 
favorably inclined to the colored race. He then drop- 
ped all work and attended school. He subscribed for 
TJie Colored American^ but the postmaster did not con- 
sider it proper to dispense that kind of literature 
through the mails, and so withheld the paper for a 
number of weeks. At last he was informed that he 
could have his papers if he paid what was due on them. 
He paid thirty cents postage, and was given a bundle 
of papers which, when he got home and unfolded, 
were undelivered numbers of other papers not his 
own. He, however, applied at once to the postmaster, 
and carried his point. In 1844, when he was twenty- 
three years old, he went to Philadelphia with only $3 
in his pocket. Here he was obliged to confront the 
question of color. He was not able to secure steady 
work, discouragement and failure met him on every 
hand. After being engaged in work for some time, 
he found that he was not making enough to pay his 
modest board bill. During the next summer, he 
worked in a brick yard. Determined to provide for 
the coming winter better than he did for the first win- 
ter spent in Philadelphia, he resolved to start a busi- 



456 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

ness of his own. He engaged in the oyster business, 
but a very brief experience proved to him that he was 
not capable of carrying it on. Through the pious rep- 
resentations of a rogue the money he had on hand was 
temporarily loaned, and the prospective profit became 
a real loss. He then became a second-hand clothing 
dealer, but this plunged him into bankruptcy. He 
then got a position as a waiter in a Broad street house, 
but the surroundings were so disgusting and the work 
so hard that in three weeks, hearing of a vacancy in 
the family of an aged widow of great wealth, he 
ventured to try for the place. Here he was engaged 
after a searching examination at $14 per month. By 
faithfulness, he soon won the esteem of the lady, and 
found that, although she was exacting in requiring her 
rules to be obeyed, yet she was kind and always ready 
to aid him. His duties were light, and as the good 
lady discovered his taste for books, she extended all 
encouragement to him that she could. She permitted 
him to keep up his connection With the Sunday school 
at the Moral Reform Retreat, and assisted him in 
acquiring knowledge of books. After spending eight- 
een months very profitably and pleasantly in the home 
of this old lady, she left the city to reside with her 
daughter in New York. This ended William's engage- 
ment, and he was sorry enough to part with one who 
was so kind to him. With the references from the 
good old lady, he soon secured a place with the family 
of a retired merchant until he heard that a clerk was 
needed in the office of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery 
Society. He made application for the position, and 
was informed that the committee would employ him 
provided the salary suited, $3.75 per week. In the 
meantime, having won a lady and made her his wife, 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 457 

he looked around for further employment in order that 
he might eke out a comfortable subsistence for himself 
and wife. This he procured as janitor of the library 
building, at a salary of $6 per month. His wife, in 
the meantime, carried on dressmaking. His faithful- 
ness and ability in office work soon induced the 
committee in charge of the Anti- Slavery office to 
increase his salary. He had become an earnest, con- 
fidential worker in the underground railroad matters, 
and his house had been known as a safe and con- 
venient station on the line of northward march. He 
was ever on the alert to aid slaves to escape. Many 
of the successful attempts that he made to liberate 
Negroes are recorded in his volume, "The Under- 
ground Railroad. ' ' He resigned as chairman of the 
committee in 1861, and immediately began business 
as a dealer in stoves, also the sale of coal on a small 
scale, and this business increased until he has become 
one of the noted coal dealers of the city. He was 
unanimously elected a member of the Philadelphia 
Board of Trade, and has for years been reaping the 
reward of energy and integrity in the shape of a daily 
enlarging confidence. In 1872 he published his work, 
"The Underground Railroad." The manuscript had 
been very carefully secreted during the war, as no 
other of the underground railroad managers had 
dared to make any note of the work. At the Centen- 
nial Exposition in 1876 his book attracted much atten- 
tion. Mr. Still, although past seventy-five years of age, 
is still vigorous and active. He is still engaged in phi- 
lanthropic work. He is actively engaged as president, 
etc., on the board of "The Home for Aged and Infirm 
Colored People, ' ' for more than thirty years. His life 
has been a busy and useful one. He was connected 



458 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

with a society for improving the condition of the Negro 
race, of which Benjamin Franklin was first president, 
and which was organized one year before the United 
States government 

The reader will, no doubt, desire to know something 
concerning the two boys who were sold in slavery into 
the South. We take the following from the life of 
William Still, g'ving an account of his meeting with 
his brother : 

"One summer day, in 1850, as I was busily engaged 
in marling the weekly issiie of the Pejinsylvania Free- 
ma?i^ two colored men entered the office. One of them 
was a resident of Philadelphia, and well known to me ; 
the other I never had seen„ My acquaintance intro- 
duced the stranger as coming from the South, and with 
the added remark^ *He will tell you his own story.' 
I paused, and the stranger began in a very deliberate 
manner, saying: 'I am from Alabama. I have come 
in search of my people. I and my little brother were 
kidnapped about forty years ago, and I thought by 
coming to Philadelphia and having notices written and 
read in the colored churches old people would remem- 
ber about it, and I could find my mother and people. ' 

"After going on with his story for a few mintues in 
this way, I became fully satisfied that, if his story were 
as he had given it thus far, I could save valuable time 
by asking a few questions. I therefore asked : 

" 'Where were you kidnapped from?' 

**A.— 'I don't know.' 

**Q. — 'Don't you know the name of the place?' 

*'A.— 'No.' 

*'Q. — Don't you know the name of any town, river, 
neighborhood or state?' 

*'A.— 'No.' 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 459 

"Q. — 'What was your name?' 

"A.— 'Peter.' 

"Q. — 'What was your little brother's name?' 

"A.— 'Levin.' 

"Q. — 'What were the names of your father and 
mother?' 

"A. — 'Mother's name was Sidney and father's name 
was Levin?' 

"Q. — 'Do you remember the name of any other 
person?' 

"A. — 'I know the name of one white man.' (Here 
he named him.) 

"By this time I was simply thunderstruck, so to 
speak. I had to summon all my powers of control in 
the presence of the stranger, so fully was I convinced 
by this time that he was one of my long-lost brothers. 
I scarcely knew what to do for a little time, but by 
and by I dismissed the pilot, saying I would look further 
into the case after I got through with my mailing and 
take care of the stranger over night. This was satis- 
factory to the pilot, but hardly so to the stranger, till 
he was advised by his friend that it would be all right. 

"Before intimating to my brother the discovery I 
had made, I allowed a full hour to pass, meanwhile 
plying him with a thousand questions touching his 
entire life. Then, seating myself by his side, I said: 
'I think I can tell you all about your kinf oik— mother, 
father, etc.,' and went on to say, 'You are an own 
brother of mine. ' 

"As anxious as he had been all his life to find his 
lost parents and relatives, this news was at the moment 
too good for him to fully credit. He was as one dumb- 
founded. I went on to assure him of the truth of all I 
had said, by relating our family history in detail, and 



460 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

dwelling particularly on mother's escapes, and how, 
in her second attempt, she was obliged to leave her 
two little boys, Levin and Peter, behind, in the care 
of their grandmother. 

"Having explained the matter to Peter thus fully, 
his doubts vanished and he went home with me. Our 
two sisters living in Philadelphia, who were acquainted 
with all the secrets of the family history, were soon 
called in, and became joyful witnesses of the marvel- 
ous restoration. Outside of myself and sisters, I felt 
sure he might have enquired the city over without 
having obtained the slightest cue to his lost relations. 

*'The next day he was taken to our mother's home 
in New Jersey, and fully recognized by her, not a 
shadow of doubt appearing as to his identity, as he was 
her very image. 

"Allow me to remark just here that it was this 
heartrending history connected with my own family 
that first prompted me to keep the records of the 
underground railroad. Thousands of escapes, har- 
rowing separations, dreadful longings, dark gropings 
after lost parents, brothers, sisters, and identities, 
seemed ever to be pressing on my mind. While I 
knew the danger of keeping strict records, and while I 
did not dream that in my day slavery would be blotted 
out, or that the time would come when I could publish 
these records, it used to afford me great satisfaction to 
take them down fresh from the lips of fugitives on the 
way to freedom, and to preserve them as they had 
given them. But, thank God ! the end of slavery came 
ere we looked for it, and the records are no longer 
preserved in secret, nor is their presence a source of 
danger." 

Francis Ellen Watkins Harper was born in Baltimore 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. [ijl 

in 1825, not of slave parentage, and yet subjected to 
the oppression which bond and free alike endured 
under the slave laws. Since reaching her majority, in 
looking back, the following sentences from her own 
pen express the loneliness of her childhood days: 
"Have I yearned for a mother's love? The grave 
was my robber. Before three years had scattered 
their blight around my path, death had won my 
mother from me. Would a strong arm of a brother 
have been welcome? I was my mother's only child. " 
An aunt cared for her during her early years. She 
was sent to school until she was about thirteen years 
of age, and then put to work to earn her living. It 
was her fortune to work for a lady willing to let her 
have any book in her library to read at her leisure, 
except a novel. 

She had an ardent thirst for knowledge, and a 
remarkable talent for composition. She was noted for 
her industry, rarely trifling away time, as many girls 
are wont to do. In early life she acquired a taste for 
reading and poetry, and soon found, as she says, "she 
could string verses together and make them jingle." 
Scarcely had she reached her majority before she had 
written a book, "Forest Leaves," consisting of prose 
and poetry. The following is one of the poems of 
the volume. At the time it was also printed in an 
English paper. Not having either the volume or the 
paper at hand, Mrs. Harper has kindly sent us a copy 
which she has quoted from memory, although she is 
seventy-two years of age : 

ETHIOPIA. 

Yes, Ethiopia yet shall stretch 

Her bleeding hands abroad ; 
Her cry of agony shall reach 

The burning throne of God. 



462 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

The tyrant's yoke from off her neck, 

His fetters from her soul, 
The mighty hand of God shall break 

And spurn the base control. 

Redeemed from dust, and freed from chains. 

Her sons shall lift their eyes ; 
From lofty hills and verdant plains 

Shall shouts of triumph rise. 

Upon the dark, despairing brow 
Shall play a smile of peace ; 
For God shall bend unto her woe, 
And bid her sorrows cease. 

'Neath sheltering vines and stately palms 

Shall laughing children play ; 
And aged sires, with joyous psalms, 

Shall gladden every day. 

Secure by night and blest by day, 

Shall pass her happy hours ; 
No human tigers hunt for prey 

Within her peaceful bowers. 

Then, Ethiopia, stretch, O, stretch 

Thy bleeding hands abroad ; 
Thy cry of agony shall reach 

And find the throne of God. 

Her taste for poetry was nurtured and fed in her 
uncle's school, which she attended for a number of 
years. Among the early recollections of her life are 
some reminiscences of Whittier and Garrison. Of 
her uncle, she says: ''Our teacher, in instructing his 
pupils, did more than simply carry us through the 
routine of lessons, and nearly sixty years have not 
affected what I learned in that little school room, 
which was only a few yards from a slave-pen." 

All her writings have a highly moral and elevated 
tone. In 1851 she left Baltimore to seek a home in a 
free state, and for a short time resided in Ohio, where 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 4G3 

she was engaged in teaching. She soon left that state, 
and engaged in teaching in Little York, Pennsylvania! 
While in York she had frequent opportunities of seeing 
passengers of the underground railroad. In one 
of her letters, she alluded to a traveler, thus: "I saw 
a passenger per the underground yesterday. Not- 
withstanding the abomination of the nineteenth 
century, the fugitive slave law men still determine 
to be free. Notwithstanding all the darkness in which 
they keep the slaves, it seems that somehow light is 
dawning upon their minds. These poor fugitives are 
a property that can walk. Just to think that from the 
rain-bow crowned Niagara to the swollen waters of the 
Mexican Gulf, from the restless murmur of the 
Atlantic to the ceaseless roar of the Pacific, the poor, 
half-starved, flying fugitive has no resting place for 
the sole of his foot." In 1853 Maryland, her native 
state, enacted a law forbidding free people of color 
from the North from going into the state, on pain of 
being imprisoned and sold into slavery. A free man, 
who had unwittingly violated this infamous statute, 
had recently been sold in Georgia, but had escaped 
thence by hiding behind the wheel-house of a boat 
bound northward. Before he reached the desired 
haven, he was discovered and remanded ^to slavery, 
and soon after died from the effects of exposure and 
suffering. In a letter to a friend referring to this 
outrage, Mrs. Harper wrote: "Upon that grave I 
pledged myself to the Anti-Slavery cause. " She soon 
went to Philadelphia, making her home at the station 
of the^ underground railroad. Although anxious to 
enter the anti-slavery field as a worker, her modesty 
prevented her from pressing her claims, and, being 
but little known, no especial encouragement was ten- 



464 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

dered her. From Philadelphia she went to Boston, and 
soon was found lecturing in New Bedford Her first 
effort made such an impression that she was at once 
engaged by the State Anti-Slavery Society of Maine. 
Her ability and labors were everywhere appreciated, 
and her meetings were largely attended. Open doors, 
hospitable homes, and helping hands were proof that 
she had found her field of labor in pleading for the 
cause of her people in bondage. 

For a year and one-half, she continued in the Eastern 
states, and then visited the fugitives in Canada. Her 
newly acquired reputation as a lecturer opened wide 
for her the door in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Her con- 
stant traveling required her absence from what she 
might call home, and she often expressed the desire 
that she might be able to enjoy the blessings of a 
home, "and yet," says she, "I do not regret that I 
have espoused this cause. Perhaps I have been of 
some service to the cause of human rights, and I hope 
the consciousness that I have not lived in vain will 
be a halo of peace around my dying bed, a heavenly 
sunshine lighting up the dark valley and shadow of 
death." She was far from desiring at her death a 
burial in a slave state, as expressed in the following 
language:^ 

"Make me a grave wher'er you will, 
In a lowly plain or a lofty hill ; 
Make it among earth's humblest graves, 
But not in a land where men are slaves." 

In the fall of i860, Mrs. Harper was married to 
Fenton Harper, a widower and a resident of Ohio. 
The means she had saved from the sale of her books 
and from lectures she invested in a small farm near 
Columbus. Notwithstanding her family cares, she. 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 465 

only ceased from her literary and anti-slavery labors 
when compelled to do so by other duties. In 1864 
death deprived her of her husband. After the war, 
she spent much of her time in laboring for her people 
in the South. Mrs. Harper traveled extensively, 
going on the plantations among the lowly as well as 
to the cities and towns, addressing schools, churches, 
meetings in court houses, etc., influenced wholly by 
the noble impulses of her own heart, working her way 
along unsustained by any society. The work among 
the freedmcn of today may sometimes have difficulties 
and trials to encounter, but for Mrs. Harper, in the 
days of reconstruction, when the Negro had no rights 
that a white man might respect, to go alone into these 
waste places of the South and bring comfort and 
encouragement to the down-trodded of her race, often 
endangering her life, was more than the average indi- 
vidual of today would consent to do. After many 
years of hard labor in the South, Mrs. Harper 
returned to Philadelphia, where she has since had her 
home. She is, hov/ever, not idle, but is always look- 
ing to the necessities of those around her, whom she 
may lift up by her encouraging and helpful advice. Mrs. 
Harper is a woman of high moral tone, with superior 
native powers, highly cultivated, and a captivating 
eloquence that hold her audience in rapt attention 
from the beginning to the close. She always speaks 
well, but particularly so when the subject relates to 
the condition of her people, in whose welfare, before 
and since the war, she has taken the deepest interest. 
The following lines were written by Mrs. Francis 
E. Harper on the return from Cleveland, Ohio, of a 
poor, ill-fated girl, under the Fugitive Slave law: 

31 Progress 



466 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

TO THE UNION SAVERS OF CLEVELAND. 

"Men of Cleveland, had a vulture 
Sought a timid dove for prey, 
Would you not, with human pity, 
Drive the gory bird away? 

Had you seen a feeble lambkin 

Shrinking from a wolf so bold. 
Would ye not, to shield the trembler, 

In your arms have made its fold? 

But when she, a hunted sister. 

Stretched her hands that ye might save, 

Colder far than Zembla's regions 
Was the answer that ye gave. 

On the Union's bloody altar 

Was the hapless victim laid ; 
Mercy, truth, and justice shuddered, 

But your hands would give no aid. 

And ye sent her back to torture. 
Robbed of freedom and of right. 

Thus the wretched captive stranger 
Back to slavery's gloomy night. 

Back where brutal men may trample 

On her honor and her fame ; 
And unto her lips so dusky. 

Press the cup of woe and shame. 

There is blood upon your city, 

Dark and dismal is the stain ; 
And your hands would fail to cleanse it 

Though Lake Erie ye should drain. 

There's a curse upon your Union, 

Fearful sounds are in the air ; 
As if thunderbolts were framing 

Answers to the bondsman's prayer. 

Ye may offer human victims 

Like the heathen priests of old ; 
And may barter manly honor 

For the Union and for gold. 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 467 

But ye cannot stay the whirlwind 

When the storm begins to break ; 
And our God doth rise in judgment 

For the poor and needy's sake. 

And your sin-cursed, guilty Union, 

Shall be shaken to its base, 
Till ye learn that simple justice 

Is the right of every race." 

Since freedom she has also been engag-ed in the tem- 
perance field, and for many years has held the position 
of superintendent of colored work in the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union. She has contributed 
freely to the columns of the Union Signal, the weekly 
paper of that organization. She has been a member 
from the beginning of the "Woman's Congress," 
holding for a time the position of director. She has 
spoken at and attended the "National Council of 
Women. ' ' Although seventy-two years old, she is 
still in the lecture field, and is actively engaged in 
different lines of literary work. Her home is 1006 
Bainbridge street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There 
is probably no woman, white or colored, who has 
come so intimately in contact with the colored people 
in the South, for she has labored in every Southern 
state except Arkansas and Texas. She has never 
lacked for evidences of hearty appreciation and grati- 
tude. 

EDUCATORS. 

The items of the following biographical sketch have been 
gleaned from different sources but principally from an article by 
Dr. Parks, of Gammon Theological Seminary. 

(H. F. Kletzing.) 

Prof. W. H. Crogman, A. M., who occupies the chair 
of Greek and Latin in Clark University, Atlanta, 
Georgia, in Christian character, scholarship in his 



468 PROGKESS OF A RACE. 

department, literary ability, general culture, and 
distinguished services, stands, it is safe to say, at the 
very head of the colored race. In all the particulars 
mentioned, he would honor a professorship in any 
college in the land. 

The subject of this sketch was born on the Island of 
St. Martin's, May 5, 1841. In 1855 ^'^^ went to sea on 
a vessel on which Mr. B. L. Boomer was mate. Mr. 
Boomer took a deep interest in him, and afterwards 
took him to his home in Massachusetts. Mr. Boomer's 
brothers were sea captains. The boy, Willie Crog- 
man, followed the sea with this family for eleven years. 
He visited many lands, and, observant and thoughtful, 
obtained a wide knowledge of various nationalities 
and parts of the world. His visits included especially 
England, various points of the continent of Europe, 
Calcutta and Bombay in Asia, and various places in 
South America. Mr. Boomer says: 

"It has been my good fortune to know our good 
friend all the way since he was fifteen years old, and 
it would afford me the greatest satisfaction if I could 
feel that his great success in all these years had in any 
manner been furthered by me. On the contrary, his 
untiring perseverance, diligent, wise and studious use 
of his time and money, made him from the first inde- 
pendent of all save our love, respect and never-ceasing 
interest." 

In 1866, at the suggestion of Mr. Boomer, he began 
to earn means to attend an academy, and in 1868 
entered Pierce Academy, in Massachusetts. Of his 
work during the two years in this school, Prof. J. W. 
P. Jenks, of Brown University, who was then the 
principal of the academy, says: 

Beginning with me in the elementary English 



(< ' 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 409 

branches, I may safely say, in them all, he accom- 
plished in one quarter as much as the average student 
did in two, mastering- almost intuitively, and with 
equal facility, both mathematical and linguistical prin- 
ciples. I formed him into a class of one, lest he 
should be hindered by the dullness of others. In the 
third quarter he commenced French, and, as I have 
often said, surpassed every one of the hundreds of 
students, in both rapidity of advancement and accuracy 
of scholarship. I need say no more, except that his 
record since leaving the academy, taking all the exten- 
uating circumstances into the account, has reflected 
greater honor upon me as its principal, and his almost 
sole instructor while connected with it, than any other 
alumnus. ' ' 

After completing this academic course. Prof. Crog- 
man started South to give his life to the Christian 
education of his race. He spent three years as instruc- 
tor in English branches at Claflin University, Orange- 
burg, South Carolina. The experience of these years 
impressed upon him the need of a knowledge of Greek 
and Latin, and at the age of twenty-nine he began the 
study of Latin by himself. In the fall of 1873, he 
entered Atlanta University, completing the full clas- 
sical course in 1876. Through industry, thorough 
scholarship and rapid advancement, he completed the 
four years course in three, then carrying off as his bride 
one of the noblest and most gifted and cultured young 
ladies. Miss Lavinia C. Mott, of Charlotte, North 
Carolina, Professor Crogman entered upon the 
work to which he has given all these years. Called at 
once to the position in the faculty of Clark University, 
he has occupied his present chair since 1880. For more 
than twenty long years, Professor Crogman has been 



470 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

an incessant laborer, and continuotis in self sacrificing, 
in order that he might break the fetters of ignorance 
and superstition, and give liberty to the captives. His 
earnestness and faithfulness in the class-room, where 
he is so much at home, produces an eloquence more 
effective than a thousand orators upon the stage. 
Learned and yet modest, humble and yet dignified, he 
carries with him a personality that is his own. As the 
result of his labor, let the voices from a thousand ham- 
lets in this and adjoining states speak out; let the 
young men and women from a thousand homes, who 
have imbibed knowledge and manhood at his feet 
come forward and tell the story. 

Pages might be written containing tributes from his 
students through all these years. His is a life whose 
influence is not bounded by any section of country. 
To him more than to any other instructor are many of 
the educated colored people of the South indebted for 
the success with which they are meeting. 

At his fiftieth anniversary, letters from students 
expressive of their highest appreciation of him were 
read, the excellent qualities that characterize him as 
a man and as a teacher were vividly set forth, as well 
as his thorough work in class-room, system and method 
in instructing, manly and helpful talks that often 
were a source of inspiration and led many to noble 
resolves. 

Professor Crogman's library is large, choice and 
costly, and every book in it shows that it has been 
used. He is a close and thorough student. 

He was a lay delegate to the General Conference of 
the M. E. Church of 1880, 1884 and 1888, and one of 
the secretaries of the last two of these, being the first 
colored man placed on the staff of secretaries of a gen- 
eral conference of that church. 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 471 

At his fiftieth anniversary, already referred to, his 
friends presented him with an elegant gold watch, a 
beautiful set of Carlsbad china, nine handsomely bound 
volumes of ancient classics, and a large ornamental 
inkstand, from which rolled out one hundred dollars 
in gold. 

Mrs. Crogman, a graduate of Atlanta University, in 
her character and services as his helpmeet, and as 
queen of one of the most refined and cultured homes, 
and as mother of eight most promising children, is 
worthy of no less honor than the professor himself. 

Some years ago a university of good standing 
conferred upon Professor Crogman the degree of 
LL.D., but in his modesty he insists on declining the 
honor, and most of his friends defer to his wishes in 
not using the title, though they regard him as worthy 
of the honor it implies. Professor Crogman, though 
closely confined to his class-room for most of the year, 
has addressed with great acceptability not only his own 
people, on various occasions, but some of the most 
prominent audiences in this country, notably at Ocean 
Grove, in Beecher's church, and at the National 
Teachers' Association. His address, a few years ago, 
at the meeting of the last named in Madison, Wiscon- 
sin, was generally regarded as one of the ablest and 
most eloquent. 

His life is a busy one. Besides attending to the 
many duties devolving upon him, he is author of a 
volume, "Talks for the Times," which cannot but be 
a blessing to all who read it. This volume is receiving 
the highest encomiums from both press and educators 
in all parts of the land. These addresses are rhetori- 
cally beautiful, intellectually brilliant, and show the 
author to be perfectly familiar with history, philosophy 
and current literature. 



472 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Bishop Mallalieu says of him : ' ' He is a man in whom 
I have the irreatest confidence. He is an honor to the 
human race. I wish the world was fnll of such men. " 

As chief Exposition Commissioner for the colored 
people of the state of Georgia, it was he who made the 
exhibit of the cotton states and international exposition 
of Atlanta, in 1895, such a remarkable success. His 
race feels proud of him. Well may they wish that he 
were many times multiplied. 

Professor Crog-man has been presiding- in the school 
room for more than twenty years, and has occupied 
the chair of languages at Clark University for nearly 
that length of time, and during these years he has 
been secretary of the trustee boards of both Clark 
University and Gammon Theological Seminary. Be- 
sides these heavy duties, he has taken an active part 
in all movements that had for their object the better- 
ment of the state, the city, the United States and his 
people. 

The story of his life shows something of the adverse 
circumstances under which he has labored, the man- 
hood, scholarship, usefulness to his race and humanity, 
and the honor his indefatigable industry, perseverance, 
hard work, and Christian faith have achieved, and 
points the way to every aspiring youth, however lowly 
and unfavorable his circumstances. Few men have 
rendered more faithful and useful services in educa- 
tional work than Professor Crogman. Few men have 
steadily and unwaveringly maintained a more straight- 
forward and manly course, or acted more wisely under 
all circumstances, than has he. He is every inch a 
Christian gentleman, a living teacher in no mere tech- 
nical nor narrow sense. His platform utterances 
show thorough preparation and are received with 
delight by whites and blacks alike. 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 



473 



Well does Professor Parks say: "In a true estimate, 
not only of many enlarged and ennobled individual 
lives, but also of the great movement since emancipa- 
tion in the elevation of the colored people, he must be 
given an important place." 




PROF. W. SCARBOROUGH, LL. D. 

For twenty years Professor in Wilberforce University. 

Prof. W. S. Scarborough, LL.D.-The subject of 

this sketch was bom in Macon, Georgia, February i6, 
1852. He inherited a passionate love for knowlcd-c, 
besides an aptness to overcome all obstacles in obtain- 



474 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

ing it. The Georgia law required that any Negro 
caught with a spelling book in his hand should receive 
severe punishment, and the white man who taught the 
Negro should pay a heavy penalty or go to the peni- 
tentiary. Yet, young Scarborough was so keen that 
with his book concealed he spent part of the time in a 
private school ostensibly to play. He continued in 
this clandestine way to attend undisturbed one of the 
few private schools up to the close of the war. and was 
then placed under the instructions of a Miss Kidd, 
from the North. Later he entered the Atlanta 
University, where he spent two years in preparation 
for a Northern college. In 187 1 he graduated from 
the preparatory department of the Atlanta University, 
and in the fall entered Oberlin College, where he 
spent four years. He was a hard working student, 
which made him popular with his classmates; his 
genial disposition and gentlemanly bearing won for 
him many friends. Immediately after graduation in 
1875, he taught Latin, Greek and mathematics in the 
Lewis High School, but in 1876 he returned to Oberlin, 
and spent some months in studying Hebrew and 
Hellenistic Greek. He then became Principal of 
Payne Institute, Cokesville, South Carolina, and in 
1877 was called to the chair of ancient languages in 
Wilberforce University, near Xenia, Ohio, which posi- 
tion he has held for many years with marked ability. 
His experience is large and varied. Clear in explana- 
tion, polished in language and bearing, profound in 
scholarship, a perfect gentleman, he has been able to 
impress himself upon many young minds as few young 
men have been able to do. With unflinching steadfast- 
ness of purpose, unwavering uprightness and straight- 
forward devotion to principle, he has been enabled 10 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 475 

attain the heights and win the fame so undeniably his. 

In 1880 he prepared his "First Lessons in (ircek," 
which was published by Barnes & Co. This book has 
received the highest encomiums from the press, and 
what is still better, received practical recognition, 
that of adoption by schools and colleges, both white 
and colored. He has been a frequent contributor to 
the press, and has been quite active in political life, 
being elected to state conventions, and quite frequent- 
ly an active worker in the campaigns as speaker. 

Professor Scarborough has, however, won his laurels 
as a scholar. As a teacher and philologist his ability 
is unquestioned. He has paid especial attention to 
Sanscrit and other old languages, and has not neglected 
the modern. He is author of a number of works, 
notably "Latin Moods and Tenses," "Questions on 
Latin Grammar, with Appendix." As a member of 
the American Philological Association, he has con- 
tributed valuable papers at different times. Prof 
Scarborough stands out as one of the ripest scholars 
and prominent educators of his race. 

Principal Booker T. Washington, A. M.—" I was 
born a slave on a plantation in Virginia, in 1857 or 
1858, I think. My first memory of life is that of a one- 
room log cabin with a dirt floor and a hole in the 
center that served as a winter home for sweet potatoes, 
and, wrapped in a few rags on this dirt floor, I spent 
my nights, and, clad in a single garment about the plan- 
tation, I often spent my days. The mtn-ning of free- 
dom came, and, though a child, I recall vividly my 
appearance with that of forty or fifty slaves before the 
veranda of the 'big house,' to hear read the docu- 
ments that made us men instead of property. Willi 
the long-prayed-for freedom in actual possession, each 



476 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

started out into the world to find new friends and new 
homes. My mother decided to locate in West Virginia, 
and after many days and nights of weary travel, we 
found ourselves among the salt furnaces and coal 
mines of West Virginia. Soon after reaching West 
Virginia I began to work in the coal mines for the 
support of my mother. 

"While doing this, I heard, in some way, I do not now 
remember how, of General Armstrong's school at 
Hampton, Virginia. I heard at the same time, which 
impressed me most, that it was a school where a poor 
boy could work for his education, so far as his board 
was concerned. As soon as I heard of Hampton, I 
made up my mind that in some way I was going to find 
my way to that institution. I began at once to save 
every nickel I could get hold of. At length, with my 
own savings and a little help from iny brother and 
mother, I started for Hampton, although at the time 
,1 hardly knew where Hampton was, or how much it 
would cost to reach the school. After walking a por- 
tion of the distance, traveling in a stage coach and cars 
the remainder of the journey, I at length found my- 
self in the city of Richmond, Virginia. I also found my- 
self without money, friends or a place to stay all night. 
The last cent of my money had been expended. Aftei 
walking about the city till midnight, growing almos* 
discouraged and quite exhausted, I crept under a side- 
walk and slept all that night. The next morning, as 
good luck would have it, I found myself near a ship 
that was unloading pig-iron. I applied to the captain 
for work, and he gave it, and I worked on this ship by 
day and slept tmder the sidewalk by night, till I had 
earned money enough to continue my way to Hampton, 
where I soon arrived, with 50 cents in my pocket. 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 477 

*'I at once found General Armstrong-, and told him 
what I had come for, and what my condition was. In 
his great hearty way, he said that if I was worth any- 
thing he would give me a chance to work for my 
education. While at Hampton, I resolved, if God 
permitted me to finish the course of study, I would 
enter the far South, the black belt of the Gulf states, 
and give my life in providing as best I could the same 
kind of chance for self-help for the youth of my race 
that I found ready for me when I went to Hampton, 
and so, in 1881, I left Hampton and went to Tuskegce 
and started the Normal and Industrial Institute in a 
small church and shanty, with one teacher and thirty 
students. 

"Since then the institution of Tuskegee has grown 
till we have connected with the institution eighty-one 
instructors and 850 young men and women, represent- 
ing nineteen states; and, if I add the families of our 
instructors, we have on our grounds constantly a pop- 
ulation of about 1,000 souls. The students are about 
equally divided between the sexes, and their average 
is 18}^ years. In planning the course of training at 
Tuskegee we have steadily tried to keep in view our 
condition and our needs rather than to pattern our 
course of study directly after that of a people whose 
opportunities of civilization have been far different 
and far superior to ours. From the first, industrial or 
hand training has been made a special feature of our 
work." 

Pres. Richard Robert Wright, A. M.— The parents 
of Richard Robert Wright were South Carolinians. 
Coming to Georgia in 1853, they first settled in Dalton, 
where Richard was born. In his boyhood he worked 
on the farm. Immediately after the war, he attended 



478 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

school in Cuthbert. Subsequently, on the removal of 
his parents to Atlanta, he enjoyed the privileges of the 
city schools, and in course of time was graduated from 
the college course of Atlanta University. 

Immediately upon graduation he returned to Cuth- 
bert, and was made principal of the Howard Normal 
School, which position he held for four years. In 
1878 he called the first convention of Negro teachers 
ever assembled in Georgia, and was for three years 
president of that body. When, in 1880, it assumed 
the name of the Georgia State Teachers' Association 
he was again elected president. In the same year he 
was called to the principalship of the Ware High 
School, in Augusta, the first high school ever estab- 
lished in the state, and supported by city funds. For 
ten years Mr. Wright remained at the head of this 
school, or until he was called by the state to organize 
the Georgia State Industrial College, over which he 
now presides. He is also vice-president of the Board 
of Trustees of Atlanta University. By request, he 
represented, in 1881, the work of the American Mis- 
sionary Association, at its annual meeting in Worces- 
ter, Massachusetts. 

Besides his services to education. President Wright 
has mingled some in politics, both state and national. 
He was a member of the National Republican Conven- 
tion that nominated Garfield; also a member of the 
one that nominated and of the one that renominated 
Harrison. In one of the national conventions he 
served on the platform committee with Governor, now 
President, McKinley. 

For ten years President Wright was editor of an 
influential newspaper, and wrote for others, being once 
a regular correspondent of a Democratic daily. 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO- AMERICAN RACE. 479 

Recently the following tribute to President Wright 
appeared in a reputable newspaper. Coming from 
Prof. Thomas N. Chase, one of President Wright's old 
teachers, the tribute has the more force : 

*'Pres. R. R. Wright became my pupil in 1S69. I 
have had an intimate acquaintance with him ever 
since. He was one of the brightest students Atlanta 
University has had, and is its most prominent 
graduate. Col. A. E. Buck has said to me more than 
once that President Wright was the ablest colored man 
in Georgia, and I concur with him in his estimate. As 
principal of the Howard Normal School at Cuthbcrt, 
and then as principal of the Ware High School in 
Augusta, and later as president of the State College 
at Savannah, as editor of a paper for many years, as 
trustee of Atlanta University, as the institution's 
commencement orator, by his public addresses in all 
the large cities of his state, by conducting of teachers' 
institutes, by his printed speeches and essays, and in 
other ways, President Wright has come to be the best 
known and most influential colored man in the state 
of Georgia, and best of all, he has maintained an untar- 
nished reputation, and his example and teachings have 
always been on the side of morality and virtue." 

Such, in brief, has been the Hfe and career of the 
little black, barefooted boy who, shortly after the war, 
when General Howard, addressing a school in the city 
of Atlanta, asked the question, ''What shall I tell your 
friends in the North?" instantly replied: "Tell them we 
are rising. ' ' The poet Whittier, hearing of this, immor- 
talized it in verses, of which the following is a stanza: 
* Oh, black boy of Atlanta, but half was spoken; 
The slave's chains and the master's are broken, 
The one curse of the races held both in tether, 
They are rising, all are rising, the black and white tocrether." 



480 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 




PROF. WM. E. HOLMES, 

President Central City College, Macon. Ga. 

Prof. Wm. E. Holmes, A. M.— Prof. William E. 
Holmes, President of Central City College, is another 
worthy representative of his race. Like many others 
born in obscurity, he has, by honesty, diligence, and 
studious habits, lifted himself to a position of respect- 
ability and great usefulness among his fellow men. 
Born of slave parents, he has, at least, shown that he 
deserved to be free. 

His taste for books developed early, and in the last 
years of the war we find him attending school. Im- 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 481 

mediately after the war, he had the privilege of sitting 
as pupil under the "Yankee school marm. " To him"^ 
as to so many others, the quickening of the heart was 
also the quickening of the brain. Converted at eigh- 
teen, he became the more desirous to enlarge his 
mental vision, and fit himself for service to his race in 
the large field opened up by emancipation. Conse- 
quently, he entered, in his native city, the Augusta 
Institute, where he spent several years. Subse- 
quently, on the removal of that institution to Atlanta, 
under the changed name of the Atlanta Baptist 
Seminary, Mr. Holmes followed it, and in a few years 
was graduated from it. The best proof, perhaps, of 
his worthiness is seen in the fact that on orraduation 
he was given a position in the seminary, which he has 
held up to 1899 with efficiency and honor. His degree 
of Master of Arts is from the University of Chicago. 

Personally, Professor Holmes is a royal man. Court- 
eous, kind, obliging, free from the ambition tliat is 
always "o'erleaping itself," ever ready to contribute 
to the happiness of others, he becomes an object of 
love and esteem wherever known. In his home life 
he has been blessed with the companionship of a 
devoted and sympathetic partner, formerly Miss Eliza- 
beth Easley, a graduate of Atlanta University, but 
now the proud mother of several intelligent children. 

Prof. John Wesley Gilbert, A. M.— The subject of 
this sketch was born July 6, 1864, in Hcphzibah, 
Richmond county, Georgia. His mother, herself a 
slave, brought the young Gilbert, when six months 
old, to Augusta, the city which, with little interrup- 
tion, has been his home as well as the scene of his 
early struggles for a livelihood and an education. The 
only son of a widow, he was nursed in the arms of 

32 Progress 



482 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

poverty. * * Six months of the year, ' ' to use his own 
words, "I ploughed, hoed, picked cotton, split rails, 
and spent the other six months in the public schools 
of Augusta." In this and other honorable ways he 
supported himself and helped his mother. 

Having completed the work of the public schools, 
he attended for some months the Baptist Seminary, in 
his own city, but for lack of means was obliged to 
withdraw from the school for three years. At this 
period in his life he began to despair of securing a 
liberal education. Nevertheless, he kept up his 
studies, working by day and perusing books by night. 
In the year 1883, the "Paine Institute," under the 
patronage of the Methodist Church, South, opened in 
Augusta. This Mr. Gilbert attended for three years, 
or rather for six months in each of three years. 
About this time Rev. George Williams Walker became 
president of the Institute — a noble-hearted Christian 
man, and as sincere a friend as the Negro ever had. 
This gentleman became interested in Mr. Gilbert, and 
after his graduation from the institute loaned him. 
money enough to enter Brown University, Providence,"' 
Rhode Island. This money was supplemented by such 
as he could earn while a student. He shoveled snow 
in the winter, taught pupils at night, availed himself 
of every opportunity to gain "an honest dollar." To 
his very great credit, it should be said that, notwith- 
standing this extra demand upon his time and strength, 
he maintained a uniformly high standing in his classes, 
and, upon his graduation from the classical course, was 
awarded the scholarship for "excellence" in Greek in 
the American School at Athens, Greece. He was the 
first and only Negro admitted to that school. He 
traveled all over Greece, took part in the excavations 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO- AMERICAN RACE. 483 

in Eretria, carried on by the school during- the session 
of 1890-91, contributed accounts of that year's excava- 
tions to the New York hidepciidait, f(nmd and traced 
the ancient walls of Eretria, locating- the towers of 
that structure, made, in collaboration witli Pn^fessor 
Pickard, a map of ancient Eretria, and wrote a thesis 
on the Demes of Attica. Before returning to his 
native land, Professor Gilbert visited all the largest 
and most important cities of Europe, getting thus a 
comprehensive view of the customs, manners and 
political systems of that ancient land — the nursery of 
arms, the prolific mother of arts and sciences. In 
recognition of his work in Greece, Brown University 
conferred on him, in 1891, the degree of Master of 
Arts. 

With the exception of the time spent in I'^urope, I'ro- 
fessor Gilbert has taught in Paine Institute since iSSS. 
Affable, kind-hearted, sympathetic, he wins admira- 
tion and respect among all classes. To the responsi- 
ble duties of teacher he has now added tliose of 
preacher, being at present a minister in the Colored 
Methodist Episcopal Church in America. Few young 
men have achieved as much, and few have a brighter 
future. 

To close this sketch, however, without referring to 
the gentle partner of his life would be like leaving 
Hamlet out of Hamlet. In the spring of 1889 he was 
happily and pleasantly married to Miss Osceola K. - 
Pleasant, a young lady of one of the best families in 
Augusta. Educated at Fisk University, she also holds 
a diploma from Paine Institute. To this true and 
affectionate helpmeet, the fond mother of his chil- 
dren, he is indebted for no small degree of his success, 
for every true wife is an inspiration to her husband. 



484 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

In conclusion, we are happy to say that, while 
penning this sketch, the announcement is made that 
Professor John Wesley Gilbert has recently been 
elected a member of the American Philological Associ- 
ation. 

President J. C. Price, D. D., Livingstone College. — 
We take the following extracts from the memorial 
address given by President Goler, the successor of 
President Price: 

President Price was born in North Carolina, in the 
dark days when the outlook for Negro development 
was exceedingly discouraging. Emancipation and 
the opening of the schools to all classes found him a 
lad of nine years in the eager pursuit of the rudiments 
of knowledge, under the care and keeping of a self- 
denying Christian mother, who early instilled in his 
mind those principles which subsequently developed 
into that manly deportment, that uprightness of char- 
acter, that geniality and pliability of disposition which 
captivated his companions and made him everywhere 
a favorite. It was while still a youth, studying law 
in Shaw University at Raleigh, that it pleased God to 
reveal Himself to him. He sought and found salva- 
tion in the crucified Redeemer, was saved by the 
working of the mighty power, and experienced the joy 
that comes from believing. Soon after his conversion, 
he felt that necessity was laid upon him to preach the 
gospel, to lift up Jesus by his voice as well as in his 
exemplary life, and so for better preparation he 
entered Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in 1875. 
It was there I first met to admire and afterward to love 
him. Lincoln is a Presbyterian institution, but opens 
wide her doors to all creeds and all colors. He was a 
Methodist, and brought with him to the university 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO- AMERICAN RACE. 485 

some of the distinguishing characteristics of that 
denomination. He invariably absented himself (vom 
the dining hall on Fridays, and spent the time in fast- 
ing and prayer. As a student, he was docile, obedient 
to his instructors, courteous to his companions, true to 
his books, honest in the class-room, industrious in his 
studies and punctual at the prayer meeting. He 
exerted a healthy influence in the institution. He 
was one of those whom we find occasionally, yet 
rarely, in all schools, a model young man. It was 
while finishing up his course in theology that P>ishop 
Hood, quick to see what is in a young man, and recog- 
nizing his rare qualities of head and heart, ordained 
him to the order of deacon, and finally of elder in the 
A. M. E. Zion Church. He was subsequently elected 
to the general conference of 1880. There, coming in 
contact with the superior minds of the general chiircli, 
his gifts and graces were recognized and readily appre- 
ciated and here won for himself the distinguished 
honor of representing, with others, the A. M. E. 
Church at the ecumenical conference in England in 
1 88 1. His efforts there laid the foundation of Living- 
stone College. This work was near his heart and in 
its interest, as one of the means of race elevation, he 
spent the energies of his short but eventful life. He 
was no self-seeker. He did not labor for the notice 
of society or the prizes of the world, but the one con- 
trolling idea of his life was to lift his race out of the 
ignorance and moral degradation into which the mis- 
fortune of a cruel past had sunk them, and to lead 
them to higher planes of intelligence and social refine- 
ment. He was forcible in his appeals for justice and 
fair dealing; honest in his statements, and trnc to his 
convictions, yet he carried no gall in his nature. No 



486 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

bitterness escaped his lips. There was no rancor in 
his bosom. He had faith in the power of Christ to 
eradicate the evils of society. He believed in the ulti- 
mate triumph of truth and righteousness and was 
satisfied that the evils of society will be rooted out, 
when men receive the power of Christ in their hearts 
rather than the knowledge of Jesus in their heads. 

As president of this institution he governed by love. 
He held his teachers about him in hearty co-operation 
with all his plans. They stood by him, not because 
they received their pay — for there was not and is not 
much pay here — but because they loved the president. 
I remember a letter he wrote to a friend to teach here 
with him at the beginning of this work, and here is 
the inducement he offered: "We are just starting the 
work. I cannot promise you any pay the first year, 
but after that some provision will be made. " With 
this not over-bright prospect, two teachers, who are 
still in the institution, came to him. 

It pained him to send a needy student away, and so 
large was his heart and so sympathetic withal, that 
none appealed to him in vain, even to the denying 
himself of home necessities. 

He was devoted to his work, he apprehended that 
God had called him to it, and no inducement could 
draw him away. Men, recognizing the great powers 
of oratory and the logical acumen with which God 
endowed him, urged him to seek for himself honors in 
the paths of politics, and pave his way to the legisla- 
tive halls of the nation. The President of the repub- 
lic, appreciating his ability and his moral worth, 
appointed him to a post of honor in a foreign country. 
There was money in it, and he needed money, there 
was honor in it, and men love honor, but he refused 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 487 

the honor and the emohiment, preferring to hibor for 
his little school in North Carolina, simply remark in;^^ 
*'I think I can do more good in vSalisbiirv. " Tlie 
honors that have come to him, both at home and 
abroad, would have had an inflating effect upon the 
self-seeker and the egotist. But who ever saw Price 
inflated? Who ever charged Price witli egotism' 
If there was one thing that particularly character- 
ized him, it was modesty; he was as unassuming 
as a little child. As we stand off and hold ii]) his 
qualities, oh, how they loom! He envied no man liis 
gifts or his prosperity, but tmostentatiously endeav- 
ored to do his own work faithfully and well. An 
undisputed leader of his people, he came to tlicm 
always in the character of a helper, and appeared un- 
conscious of his leadership. Where is there a greater 
Negro than Price? Great, not in the sense tliat men 
ordinarily estimate greatness, but great in i^^-oot/ztiss, 
great in devotion to duty, great in his faith in the possi- 
bilities of the future for the race, great in his concep- 
tion of individual responsibilities, great in his humility 
and unshaken faith in the living God. Frederick 
Douglass calls him "the ablest advocate of the race." 
And Price is dead. Plow befitting the words of David, 
"Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man 
fallen this day in Israel?" 

Miss Lucy Laney. — There is probably no one of all 
the educators of the colored race wdio stands higher, 
or who has done more work in pushing forward the 
education of the Negro woman, than the subject of our 
sketch. Miss Laney is a graduate of Atlanta Uni- 
versity, and, after graduation, she taught school in a 
number of places in Georgia. Relinquishing a salary 
of $400 a year in 1886, she went to Augusta for the 



488 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

purpose of establishing an industrial boarding school. 
No aid was promised her, but she went forward and 
became responsible for the support of the teachers 
and the expense of the institution. The first year her 
school enrolled 140 pupils. It has steadily increased 
in power and influence, as well as numbers, from the 
first. It is, at present, under the auspices of the 
Presbyterian Church, and through the benevolence of 
a Northern lady, a five- story brick building has been 
erected. Miss Laney's assistants, Miss Jackson, Miss 
Smallwood and Mrs. Mary R. Phelps, are competent 
teachers, and together they are doing a great work in 
that part of the state. Dr. George C. Rowe puts it 
in this way : 

"Among the women of our race 

We know of few, if any, 
Who fill a nobler, worthier place — 

Than earnest Lucy Laney. " 

Miss Laney, who conceived the idea of founding this 
school for the uplifting of the Negro woman, and who 
began it on her own responsibility, has succeeded in a 
remarkable manner. Haines Normal and Industrial 
Institute has two departments, a normal and a college 
preparatory. The normal department prepares the 
students for teachers. This department is ably presid- 
ed over by Miss M. C. Jackson, who in her training 
class succeeds admirably in making practical teachers. 
The college department fits young men and women so 
that they are able to pass entrance examinations in 
our best colleges. 

Haines Normal Institute and its noble workers, Miss 
Laney and Miss Jackson, are doing a great and good 
work in Augusta. This is the only Presbyterian 
school for the colored in Georgia. It deserves what 
it is receiving — the liberal support of the church. 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 489 

Margaret Murry Washington was born in. Macon, 

Mississippi, March 9, 1865, being one of ten children.' 
Here she received her early English education. After 
spending nine years at Fisk University, in 1889 she 
graduated from the classical course in that institution, 
one other girl and herself being the only girls in a 
large class of boys. While in school Margaret IMurry 
had very poor health, and the same ambitious spirit 
and iron will that now master her physical weakness 
pulled her through the long years of study during her 
college course. 

When she graduated from Fisk University she was 
employed as teacher of English literature at the Tusk- 
egee Normal and Industrial Institute. Recognizing 
exceptional strength of mind and disciplinary power, 
the trustees of the above mentioned institution the 
next year appointed her Lady Principal, which position 
she so well filled that now many matters naturally 
falling to the duties of the lady principal are carried 
to Mrs. Washington both by teachers and students. 
She not only in position, as the wife of the principal 
of the institution, but in reality, stands next to him in 
power and influence. 

In the fall of 1892 Margaret Murry became the wife 
of Booker T. Washington, and is a power in the home 
as well as in the public. Her boys, the youngest of 
which was three years old when she went into their 
home, are as fond of her as any boys are of their 
own mother. 

As to personal appearance, Mrs. Washington is a 
mulatto, with reddish-brown hair, gray hazel eyes, 
strong features, and a large, commanding figure. 

Mrs. Washington is the leader of the movement to 
work directly for and among the less fortunate class 



490 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

of the Negro race, and has promoted social settlement, 
organizations and various other clubs and movements 
looking to the elevation mentally, and especially 
morally, of the women of her race. 

There are few women who have so strong a person- 
ality as Mrs. Washington, which power directs while 
others execute her commands. 

Mrs. Booker T. Washington has the honor of being 
the first president of the National Federation of 
Colored Women's Clubs, now the National Association 
of Colored Women. 

Prof. W. E. Burghardt Dubois was born in Great Bar- 
rington, Massachusetts, February 23, 1868. He was 
educated in the public schools, and at Fisk University, 
Harvard University and the imiversity at Berlin. He 
was two years a fellow of Harvard, and holds her 
degree of Ph. D. He taught at Wilberforce, Ohio, 
two years, and was assistant in sociology in the 
University of Pennsylvania in 1S96, for the purpose of 
studying the Negro in Philadelphia. He is at pres- 
ent professor of economics and history in Atlanta 
University. Professor Dubois is the author of ''Sup- 
pression of the African Slave Trade," also ''Harvard 
Historical Students, No. i." He was married in 1896 
to Nina Gomer, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Of his ap- 
pointment as professor in Atlanta University the 
Independent says: "We are very glad that this insti- 
tution, devoted to the education of colored people, has 
elected to so important a professorship a thoroughly 
competent colored man." 

Prof. C. W. Luckie graduated from the college 
department of Atlanta University in the class of 1883. 
He went directly to Texas, spending four years as 
principal of the colored schools of Huntsville. Then 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO- AMERICAN RACE. 41)1 

he was elected to the professorship of Enj^riisli in 
Prairie View State Normal vSchool, which posUion lie 
has since held to the satisfaction of all. With such a 
grand field as Texas in which to labor, Professor 
Luckie may look for laurels yet unearned. 
Prof. Wm. Lewis Bulkley.— The subject of this 

sketch was born of free parents in Greenville, South 
Carolina, on the 23d day of March, 1861. 

His father, Vincent Henry, and his mother, Madora, 
being- also of free parentage, had enjoyed educational 
advantages before the war. Vincent PIcnry lUilklev 
became, shortly after the war, a Methodist Episcopal 
clergyman, and remained in the service of this church 
as one of its most faithful ministers till the day of his 
death. He was sent as a delegate to the Ecumenical 
Conference of Methodism, which met in London, 
England, in 1881. 

The parents of William Lewis, having "tasted of 
the Pierian spring," had a consuming desire that at 
least their eldest son should "drink deep," and began 
by sending him to school at a very early age. 

His earliest recollections of school life arc a poor 
frame building, with an old, gray-haired Negro school- 
master, who had picked up a little "larnin' 'fo' do 
wah. " The curriculum in this institution was a Web- 
ster's blue-back speller (a species fast becoming 
extinct). The magic wand that made the pujnls look 
studious and "wondrous wise" was a well-grown 
hickory switch, an article that was neither an orna- 
ment or a mere scarecrow, as the back of more than 
one dullard can testify. In fact, that period of life 
was to William "the reign of terror. " 

From this school he passed into one taught by some 
Northern missionaries, whose great-heartedness had 



492 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

brought them into that dark section of South Carolina. 
Prominent among these early teachers were Rev. L. 
M. Dunton and wife, of New York state, two of the 
most faithful workers that ever came to help degraded 
mankind. By a strange ordering of fate, he is asso- 
ciated at present with these last two persons in Claflin 
University. 

At sixteen he began to teach in the public schools 
of his state, when scholars were legion, books were 
few and salaries were mere promissory notes. 

In 1878 he entered Claflin University, where, through 
the assistance of self-sacrificing parents, and whatever 
work he could get to do at the school, he continued in 
study four years, finishing in 1882 as the first college 
graduate. 

He taught two years in his Alma Mater, and then 
went, in 1884, to Wesleyan University, Middletown, 
Connecticut. At this, the best institution of learning 
in the Methodist Church, he paid his expenses by 
different jobs, and by what money he could raise 
during vacations in a hard canvass for nursery goods, 
pictures, or steam cookers. 

It often affords amusement to him to tell of how he 
cooked his own meals, consisting largely of oatmeal or 
pancakes, at an outlay of 10 cents a day, and how he 
used to wash such of his clothes as did not need starch 
and hang them by the stove to dry. He saved many 
a nickel by folding his rough-dried handkerchiefs in a 
book and then sitting upon it, while he "ground" 
trigonometry or tackled the mysteries of logic. 

The death of a devoted father precipitated his return 
to South Carolina. He resumed work at Claflin, and 
has taught there ever since, save a year and a half 
which he spent with his wife and child in study at 
Strassburg, Germany, and Paris. 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 493 

In 1893 he completed his **in absentia" study of the 
Latin language and literature at Syracuse University, 
Syracuse, New York, and received the degree of Ph. D. 
Professor Smalley, of the Latin department, says: 
"I have been well pleased with Professor Bulklcy's 
work. Irle has the spirit of an investigator, and (jf an 
independent thinker, that refuses to accept tlic con- 
clusions of editors without a careful examination of 
the reasons for himself. He has done much work on 
the literature, and toward mastering the principles of 
the languages, and shows excellent ability in grasping 
the thought of an author, and has unusual facility in 
rendering into idiomatic English." 

Professor Bulkley's forte is in the field of languages. 
In addition to the Latin and Greek, he has spent 
some time in the study of French, German and 
Spanish. 

In reviewing a new French book for English stu- 
dents, he detected an error which was subtle and mis- 
leading. He called the attention of the author to the 
fact, and received a long reply, from which the follow- 
ing is clipped: "I shall certainly introduce this excep- 
tion in subsequent editions of the French book, and 
wish to thank you for bringing this omission, singu- 
larly committed by so many of the highest authorities, 
and most complete books and dictionaries, to my 

attention." 

Professor Bulkley was elected to the World's Sunday 

School Convention which met in London, England, 
in 1889, and was also a delegate to the General Con- 
ference of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Cleve- 
land, Ohio, in 1896. In 1888, he married Mary Fisher 
Carroll, of Columbia, South Carolina, an honor 
graduate of Clafiin. Three promising little girls now 
bless their happy home. 



494 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



He is a member of the American Philological Asso- 
ciation. His present position is the professorship of 
Latin and Greek and the vice-presidency in Claflin 
University, Orangeburg, South Carolina. 




BISHOP L. H. HOLSEY, D. D. 



MINISTERS. 



L. H. Holsey, D. D., Bishop C. M. E. Church, was 
born in the state of Georgia, July 3, 1842, near the 
city of Columbus. His mother was the slave of 
James Holsey, who was also his father. His mother 



• PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO- AMERICAN RACE. VX^ 

was of African descent, and of pure blood of tliat 
race, with fine form and features. When lie was 
about seven years of age, his father and first master 
died. 

He was then taken away from his motlier, and 
never lived with her again, except about three or four 
years, during which time she lived on the same place 
in Hancock county that he did with his second (nvner. 
Tn 1857, Mr. T. L. Wynn, his second owner, died, 
and he became the servant of Col. R. M. Johnstone, 
who resided in the same place. He lived with him 
until emancipation. The first three years after 
emancipation, he conducted a farm in Hancock count v, 
near Sparta. He felt that he was called to ])reaeh 
from his youth, and the brightest place in his memory 
is vivid with the aspirations and longings that tlicn 
glowed upon his heart, and framed and flashed througli 
his soul. He was licensed to preach in 1S68, and 
served nearly two years on the Hancock circuit. ( )n 
January 9, 1869, he was sent by Bishop Pierce to 
Savannah, Georgia, to serve there that year. In 1S71 
he was sent to Augusta, Georgia, as pastor of Trinity 
Church, which at that time was one of the largest and 
most prominent churches belonging to the colored 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Soutli. 
At this church he remained two years and three 
months, at the end of which time (March, iS;^^) he 
was elected to the Episcopal office, and was ordained 
by Bishop W. H. Miles, one of the first bishops of the 
Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America. Ik- 
was a delegate to the first General Conference of his 
church, which convened in Jackson, Tennessee, 1S70, 
at which time and place the church was organized as a 
separate and distinct organization from that of the 



496 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of which it had 
formed a part. He was delegate to the first Ecumen- 
ical Conference, which met in London in 1881, and 
also a delegate to the one that was held in Washington 
in 1 89 1. He was a delegate, and the first delegate of 
his church, to the Conference of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, South, held in Nashville, in 1882. 

He founded the Paine Institute, located in Augusta, 
and made the initiatory steps for the beginning of the 
Lane College, at Jackson, Tennessee. For twenty 
years he has been secretary of the College of Bishops, 
and the general corresponding secretary of the connec- 
tion, and perhaps has been most prominent in all the 
leading movements of the church. 

He also compiled the Hymnal and Manual of the 
Discipline of his church, and is editor-in-chief of TJie 
Gospel Tnujipct, a paper that is published in the interest 
of the church and race. This paper is published in 
Atlanta, Georgia, where he lives at present (1897). 
In this year (1897) he has been appointed as Commis- 
sioner of Education for his church. He has been 
prominent in all the movements connected with his 
church and race, and has traveled and labored success- 
fully throughout all parts of the Southern states, and 
has done much to educate and Christianize his 
people. 

Alexander Crummell, D. D., was born in New York 
city, March 3, 181 9; educated with Henry Highland 
Garnet at Canaan, New Hampshire (1835) ; he remained 
at Canaan till the school was broken up by a mob, 
when he went, in 1836, to Oneida Institute, New 
York. 

Under the direction of Rev. Peter Williams, rector 
of St. Phillip's Church, New York, he became a candi- 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 107 

date for orders in the Protestant Episcopal Clnircli in 
1839, but, on account of color, was refused admission 
in the General Theological Seminary. 

Having been ordained deacon by Bishop Griswold, 
and having studied with Rev. Dr. A. H. Vinton, he 
was ordained priest in Philadelphia by Bishop Lee of 
Delaware. This was in 1844. 

Doctor Crummell graduated from the University of 
Cambridge, England, in 1852. Thereafter reuKn-cd to 
Liberia, West Africa, where he was a professor and 
minister of the gospel for twenty years. From 1X7;, 
till 1894, Doctor Crummell was rector of St. T.ukc"s 
Church in Washington, D. C. Plaving retired In. in 
the ministry. Doctor Crummell is giving himself uj) t(> 
work for the Negro race, in which he is intense!}- 
interested. 

In March, 1897, at the formation of the American 
Negro Academy, ''an organization of authors, scholars, 
graduates and writers, men of African descent, lor 
the promotion of letters, art, literature and science," 
Doctor Crummell was chosen president unanimously. 

Doctor Crummell recently celebrated tlic fiftieth 
anniversary of his ordination. Referring to his early 
days he says: "The pro-slavery and caste spirit 
dominated the country, and it was as strong in the 
church as in the state. Three other colored candidates 
had been admitted to seminaries, but with limitations 
and indignities to which it was impossible for me to 
submit." Concerning his reception in England, he 
says: "I was received in England with a generosity 
which almost bewildered me after such sufferings in 
my native land. I preached in London, Liverpool. 
Birmingham and other cities of England. This was a 
period of grand opportunities and richest experiences, 

33 Progress 



498 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

almost unlimited privileges and cherished remem- 
brances. I was introduced into the best society of 
England, and made friends with the Froudes, Thack- 
erays, Thorntons and other distinguished gentlemen." 
He is a fluent speaker and writer; scholarly, instruct- 
ive and entertaining in all that he says and does. 
Doctor Crummell stands among the first of those who 
have labored for the elevation of the African race. He 
is at present in England. 

Rev. Edward W. Blyden, A.M., D.D., LL.D.— Rev. 
Edward Blyden was born in the West Indies, he is of 
Negro parentage. Early in youth he was impressed 
with the love for his fatherland. He came to the 
United States in his seventeenth year and sought admis- 
sion to an institution of learning, but the prejudice 
against his race was so great that he was not admitted. 
He went to Liberia and there entered the Presbyterian 
school, and after some years was elected to professor- 
ship in the newly founded college of Liberia. In 1864 
he was appointed Secretary of State by the President 
of Liberia. In 1877 he was appointed Minister Pleni- 
potentiary of the Republic of Liberia at the Court of 
St. James. In 1880 he was elected Fellow of the 
American Philological Association. The honorary de- 
grees he holds were conferred upon him by Ameri- 
can colleges. 

He is a strong man and careful instructor, a diligent 
student, and is constantly seeking new plans and 
methods by which he may be able to elevate his 
people. Dr. Blyden has written many articles and is 
the author of several books. He has in his labors 
come in contact with some of the literary men of his 
day. 

Bishop Henry M. Turner, of the A. M. E. Church, 




BISHOP HENRY McNEAL TURNER, D. D., LL. D. 



498a 



^y/' 




lAri.^', , A 




fe 




498b 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMEKICAN RACE. 400 

was born in Newberry, South Carolina, in 1834. His 
parents were free, but he was bound out to a slave 
owner and was required to work side by side with slaves 
until he was fifteen years old, when he ran away from 
his master and entered the service of a firm of attor- 
neys in Aberville. Here he learned to read and write, 
often spending much time at night after his employers 
had gone home. 

He was licensed as a minister at twenty years of 
age; he then entered Trinity college, Baltimore, where 
he spent four years, intending to go to Africa afler 
completing his education. He was made chaplain of 
the first regiment of colored t'roops. He was then 
under the Freedman's Bureau service for a time, Ijiit 
the necessity of religious and educational work among 
his people caused him to resign and enter the ministry 
of the A. M. E. Church. He was once appointed post- 
master at Macon, Ga. , but resigned on account of the 
opposition of the white people. In 1880 he was elected 
bishop of the A. M. E. Church. 

Bishop Turner has written much on the Negro ques- 
tion. He has visited Africa five times and organized 
conferences in Sierre Leone and Liberia. The bishop 
is a firm believer in depor.tation, and insists his race 
will ultimately return to Africa, and that it is the duty 
of our government to help them to return. He thinks 
the black man will have greater opportunities, and 
will improve faster if he is placed in a republic by 
himself, and that this alone will bring peace and cpiiet 
to our country as far as the race question is concerned. 
He insists upon it that two races of people under the 
same government, the same institutions, and subject 
to the same laws with no social contact is an impossi- 
bility and will only produce evil results. 



500 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



Bishop B. W. Arnett.— Bishop B. W. Arnett's boy 
hood days were spent on a farm in Pennsylvania, where 
he had figured as a cow boy; afterward he took to 

steamboat life until 
1856, In 1864 he com- 
menced the study of 
the ministry, and in 
1865 he was licensed to 
preach, and received 
as his first appoint- 
ment Walnut Hills* 
Church, Cincinnati, 
Ohio. He was a dele- 
ofate to the Interna- 
tional Convention of 
the Young- Men's 
Christian Association 
in Washington in 187 1, 
where he delivered an 
address upon " The 
C. A. Takes in Relation to Colored 




BISHOP B. W. ARNETT. 



Stand the W. M 
Young Men." 

He served in the lower house of the Ohio Legislature 
in 1876 two years; in 1876 he was elected secretary of 
the General Conference of the A. M. E, Church, at 
Atlanta, Georgia. 

Bishop Arnett is an entertaining speaker and stands 
high in the estimation of his people. 

Bishop Benjamin Tucker Tanner was born in Pitts- 
burg, December 25, 1835. Studied at Avery College 
and Western University, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; 
entered ministry in i860; editor oi CJiristw?i Recorder 
from 1868 to 1884; then elected editor of A. M. E. 
Church Review till his election to the Bishopric, in 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 



501 



1888, of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He 
is author of "Apology for African Methodism," "Out- 
line of History," "Negro Origin," "Theological 
Lectures," "The Color of Solomon," "Is the Negro 
Cursed?" etc. He is a contributor to numerous jour- 




REV. HENRY HUGH PROCTOR. 

nals, among them the Independent. He now presides 
over the district including Kansas, Missouri, Colorado, 
Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana and New iMcxico. 

Henry Hugh Proctor, B.A., B.D.-In a one-rooni log 
cabin, ante-bellum in type, near Fayctteville, icn- 



502 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



nessee, the subject of our sketch was born, December 
8, 1868. Ten years were spent on the farm. To get 
better school advantag-es, the family moved to town. 
After .'going through the public schools, he began to 
teach. Later he became principal of the school of his 
native town. 

In the fall of 1884 he entered Fisk University, Nash- 
ville, Tennessee. By digging, type-setting, teaching 
and preaching, he helped pay his way. During his 
course he was, among other things, society president, 
college paper editor, and intercollegiate oratorical con- 
testant. At Fisk he experienced a call to preach, and 
began to exercise his talents in the vicinity of the 
university. On the completion of his literary course 
in 1891, he entered the Divinity School of Yale Uni- 
versity, New Haven, Connecticut. He spoke and 
sung his way through Yale, and during his three years 
of study in the East he was heard in many of the 
leading churches of New England. His classmates 
chose him among the eight out of a class of thirty to 
deliver commencement addresses, and to him the 
faculty assigned the coveted post of honor, that of 
delivering the final oration of the day. He' was the 
first Negro to speak at a Yale commencement, and his 
address on the African's forthcoming contribution of 
love to Christianity was widely published. 

Called to the pastorate of the First Congregational 
Church of Atlanta, Georgia, he entered the practical 
work of the ministry immediately after his graduation. 
After three years of hard and tactful labor the church, 
which had been somewhat disintegrated, secured a 
firm financial footing, and doubled its membership, 
thus becoming the largest Congregational church in 
the South. The pastor is broad but aggressive 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 503 

liberal but positive in his views on social and religious 
questions. In his preaching he deals with questions of 
practical Christianity with simplicity. He is frequently 
called upon to make addresses on popular occasions 
throughout the state. He is correspondent for a 
number of first-class Northern periodicals. In connec- 
tion with the publication of an article from his pen, 
the Bosto7i Co?igregatiojialist sa.ys of him: "He is one of 
the best equipped and trained of the Afro- American 
clergymen in the South, and is an orator of much 
promise. ' ' 

Rev. Francis J. Grimke was born in Charleston, vS. 
C , in 1850; came North in 1865, and entered Lincoln 
University in 1866, from which he graduated in 1S70; 
studied law three years, and then decided to enter the 
ministry; entered Princeton Theological Seminary in 
the fall of 1875, and graduated in 1878. He immedi- 
ately afterwards became pastor of the Fifteenth Street 
Presbyterian Church in Washington, D. C, where he 
continued until the fall of 1885. Owing to failing 
health, he resigned his charge, and accepted a call to 
the Laura Street Presbyterian Church of Jacksonville, 
Florida, where he continued to labor until the winter 
of 1889. His health having improved, he accepted a 
call 'to return to the church in Washington, where he 
has been ever since. 

Bishop James Walker Hood, D.D., LL.D.— Doctor 
Hood is the oldest Negro bishop in the world. lie 
was elected bishop by the American Methodist Epis- 
copal Zion Church at Charlotte, North Carolina, in 
1872. The church has ordered a celebration of the 
bishop's episcopal labors. An extended programme 
has been prepared by a committee of which R. S. 
Rives is chairman. This anniversary was celebrated 
September 18, 1897. 



504 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Bishop C. R. Harris was born in Fayetteville, North 
Carolina. His father died when he was three years 
old, and left his widow with ten children. The mother, 
at once finding that the discussion of slavery was det- 
rimental to free colored people in the South, sold out 
her little property, and went to Ohio, where Harris 
was educated in good schools, and when the war closed 
Robert and Cicero Harris were among the first to 
enter the field in the South. They went to Fayette- 
ville, and established a colored school under the 
auspices of the American Missionary Association. 
Through their efforts an appropriation was secured 
from the Freedman's Bureau, and a two-story school 
building was erected. Afterwards Governor Vance 
visited the school, and at his suggestion the legislature 
established this, the first colored state normal school. 
Rev. J. W. Smith, the able editor of the Star of Zion^ 
Charlotte, North Carolina, was a pupil in this school 
when Governor Vance visited it, and he gave several 
figures on the blackboard in multiplication, division 
and fractions for Mr. Smith to solve, and encouraged 
him by saying he would make a good bookkeeper. 
Professor C. R. Harris taught at Fayetteville until 
1872, when he took charge of a public school at Char- 
lotte Later he was connected with what is now Liv- 
ingstone College, and assisted much in building up 
that institution in its early days. In 1880 he was 
elected Dishop of the A. M. E. Zion Church. He has 
been a Txiember of every general conference since 1876, 
and as an educator he stands high. His success in 
Episcopal work has been as pronounced as in other 
fields of labor in which he has worked. 

Howard University conferred upon him the degree 
of Doctor of Divinity in 1881. A person must merit 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO- AMERICAN RACE. 505 

what he gets from this institution, for it bestows its 
honors with great caution. The life of Bishop Harris 
has been spent in the unselfish service of his fellow 
men, and is an illustration of fair opportunities in 
youth worthily followed up, and of energies devoted 
to the service of humanity receiving their due recog- 
nition and reward. 

Rev. W. G. Alexander, D. D., was born December 
25, 1856, in Orange county, Virginia. Early in life 
he was employed by Rev. Thomas E. Green, of Wash- 
ington, D. C. Rev. Mr. Green, being a man of large 
means, took a great interest in young Alexander, and 
educated him as if he were his own son. After finish- 
ing his course in preparatory work, he was admitted 
to Howard University. At the age of twenty-two 
he entered the African Methodist Episcopal ministry 
His early years in the ministry were spent in hard 
circuit work. He has successfully filled pastorates at 
many prominent places in the South, and at present is 
pastor of Big Bethel, Atlanta, Georgia. While pastor 
in Virginia, he was appointed by Governor Lee Cura- 
tor of the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute. 
In 1S89 he was elected Fraternal Messenger to the 
General Conference of the Colored Methodist Episco- 
pal Church at Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1892 he 
was elected to the Presidency of Payne University, 
Selma, Alabama, but declined, preferring to remain 
in the ranks of the traveling ministry. He was 
one of the principal colored speakers at the Ccmi- 
gress of Religions at the Columbian Exposition in 
Chicago in 1893. He is at present dean of the theo- 
logical department of the Morris Brown College, 
Atlanta, and acceptably fills the professorship of 
theology and sacred literature. 



506 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



As the pastor of Big Bethel, he has succeeded 
admirably in canceling the debt by means of a debt 







REV. W. G. ALEXANDER. 

chart which he has invented. This chart consists of a 
number of squares, and as soon as any one has contrib- 
uted ten dollars the name of the contributor is placed 



.^^ 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 507 

in a square. The church is valued at nearly $100,000. 
Reverend Alexanderis very popular amoni^r his people. 
He has a large and choice library of books. 

Wilberforce University, Xenia, Ohio, conferred 
upon him the honorary degree of D. D. 

He is the author of "Living Words," "The Negro in 
Commerce and Finance," and " The Efficient Sunday 
School." Many of his friends think that he would 
grace a bishop's chair. His experience and ability 
make him one of the most popular and ablest ministers 
of his denomination. 

Rev. James. A. Davis, D.D., is one of the prominent 
ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and for 
the past ten years has filled some of the best and most 
influential churches. Doctor Davis is a native of Ken- 
tucky. He was taken to Ohio by his mother in his in- 
fancy, who, in company with others, was set free, and 
located in Mercer county. His father, who belonged t'» 
a different master, in the meantime escaped to Canada, 
and in 1862 his mother joined him in Windsor, 
Canada, where they remained until after the war. 
He was licensed to preach in 1879. In 1887 Jic was 
sent to Greencastle, Indiana, where, in connection witli 
his pastorate, he completed a course of theology in I )e 
Pauw University. He is at present stationed in Nash- 
ville. For him the years are full of promise. 

Rev. W. D. Balay is the organizer of the Afro- 
American Industrial Union of America ; the object of 
the organization is to elevate and uplift the race. 
Besides spending his time on the work of the union, 
he is pastor of the Baptist Church of Oak Cliff, 
Texas. Mr. Balay has labored hard to make himself 
useful to his race, and has succeeded in a remarkable 
way. 



508 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Rev. Joseph Albert Booker, A. M., was born at 
Portland, Arkansas. His mother died when he was 
but one year old. His father, having been found 
guilty of a knowledge of books, and of communicating 
the same, was charged with spoiling the "good 
Niggers. ' ' For this he was whipped to death when 
the son was three years of age. With such adverse 
circumstances to begin with, young Booker was sent 
to school by his grandmother. He soon acquired 
sufficient education to teach at the age of seventeen. 
He first taught a subscription school. He afterward 
entered Roger Williams Academy, graduating there- 
from in 1886. Soon thereafter he was elected President 
of Arkansas Baptist College. President Booker is one 
of the youngest of our Negro college presidents, and 
with a long life before him, and great opportunities 
about him, he bids fair to become a useful and influ- 
ential man in the great work of elevating the race. 

Rev. E. R. Carter was born in Clark county, Georgia, 
in 1856, and was a slave until the overthrow of the 
Confederacy in 1865. Soon thereafter he entered 
school, and in 1874 began teaching. He entered 
Atlanta Baptist Seminary in 1879. Poverty compelled 
him to subsist upon the scantiest meals, but undaunted, 
the youth held to his purpose through all his experi- 
ences of hardship, self-denial and sacrifice. In 18S2 
he was called to the First Baptist Church of Atlanta, 
which position he has most acceptably filled since. In 
1884 he graduated fromx the the theological department 
of the Atlanta Baptist Seminary. Mr. Carter enjoys 
the esteem and confidence of all classes and denomina- 
tions. He is the author of several books : ' ' Our Pulpit 
Illustrated," "The Black Side." Rev. Mr. Carter has 
traveled extensively. His is a busy life. To serve 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO- AMERICAN RAlK. 



)00 



others and to do his part in the great work of elcvatinc; 
the race is the supreme aim of his life. 




REV. E. R. CARTER, ATLANTA, GEORGIA. 

Rev. Z. T. Pardee, who was born a slave at Sparta, 



510 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Georgia, is one of the pioneer preachers of the Baptist 
Church in Texas. 
Rev. James Robinson Carnes, pastor of the A. M. E. 

Bethel Church of Dallas, Texas, was born in Tennessee. 
His parents were slaves, his grandmother a pure 
African woman and his grandfather a Guinea Negro. 
Before the breaking out of the civil war, Texas was 
supposed to be the best place to send slaves for safe 
keeping. In i860 he and his mother were sent to 
Columbus, Texas. Without having the privilege of an 
education as many others have had, he nevertheless 
has worked his way to the front, and has served many 
prominent churches in Texas. He is a ready speaker, 
and takes high grounds on all moral and religious 
subjects He is a progressive and successful worker 
for the elevation of his people along all lines. 

Rev. W. B. West studied at Gammon Theological 
Seminary, Atlanta, and is now presiding elder of the 
Dallas District of the C. M. E. Church, and editor of 
the lVester7i Index, published at Dallas. He was born 
a slave and was raised on a farm, but like many others 
has pushed his way to the front, and is now one of the 
leaders of the race. 

Bishop Daniel Payne is sometimes called "The 
Apostle of Education. " He was a carpenter by trade 
He taught school until his school was closed by slave- 
holders. 'He then left his native city, Charleston, 
South Carolina, with the determination never to 
return until slavery was abolished. In 1840 he joined 
the Philadelphia Conference of the A. M. E. Church 
as a local preacher. After serving churches at Wash- 
ington, Baltimore and other cities, he was elected 
bishop. In 1863 he purchased for the A. M. E. 
Church Wilberforce University, Ohio, and the success 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACK. Ml 

that this school has met with is altogether due to tlie 
energy and earnest zeal of this devoted man In , ss , 
he presided over the Ecumenical Conference in London 
of the M. E. Church, and in 1893 was one of those 






■ ; 
















fr^-' 










































>■ 















itHt^ 




REV. W. B. WEST. 

who presided over the World's Parliament of Rclis^nons 
in Chicago. He died in Wilberforcc, Ohio, in icSc;^, 
being at the time President of the Payne Theological 
Seminary at Wilberforce. 

Rev. M. C. D. Mason was born of slave parents on a 
sugar farm near Houma, Louisiana, in 1859. In 1S75 

34 Progress 



512 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

he entered the State Agricultural College at New 
Orleans. From 1877 to 1880 he taught a town school and 
then entered New Orleans University. In 1883 he joined 
the Louisiana Conference of the M. E. Church. He 
won great popularity as a preacher and a pastor while 
serving Lloyd Street Church, Atlanta. He completed 
a course of theology in Gammon Theological Seminary 
while in Atlanta, and immediately thereafter was 
appointed field agent of the Southern Educational 
Society of the M. E. Church. He still holds this 
position, and is doing a good work for the race. He 
is a man of fine scholarly ability, discriminating min- 
utely in choice of books and the subjects of which he 
treats. His life is an inspiration to all who come 
under his influence. 

Rev. Paul H. Kennedy was born in Elizabethtown, 
Kentucky. He had an earnest desire to acquire an 
education, but was hindered by that institution, 
slavery. During the early part of the Rebellion the 
Union soldiers appeared near his home, and he 
expressed the desire to be free. The soldiers con- 
cealed him in a wagon, but he was afterward returned 
to his master. Soon after he set out on foot, and 
walked to Louisville, and enlisted in the 109th Regi- 
ment of Colored Troops. He declares that the walk 
from slavery to freedom, although a long one, was a 
pleasant trip. In 1876 he was appointed pastor of the 
First Baptist Church of Clarkesville, Tennessee. 
Afterward ho entered Roger Williams University,* 
where he prepared himself for his life work. He has 
served as pastor of some of the largest Baptist Churches 
of the colored race in the country. He is author of 
several books, and also designed the Afro- American 
chart, which was exhibited at the World's Fair, Chicago. 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 513 

Rev. G. V. Clark was brought by his slave mother 
to Atlanta when about three years old. In 1S62 lie 
was put by his master in the service of the Confederate 
hospital, where he remained until the close of the war. 
He began going to school in his seventeenth year, and 
soon after entered Atlanta University, and then How- 
ard University, Washington. After teaching for a 
time, he graduated in Howard University in 1881. II , 
was pastor of the First Congregational Church in 
Atlanta for seven years. Since then he has served 
some of the largest Congregational churches of the 
South. He is a popular lecturer and speaker. 

Rev. Wm. Howard Day, A.M., D.D.— Dr. Wm 
Howard Day, General Secretary of the A. M. E. Zion 
Church, and Chief Secretary of the Philadelphia 
Conference, was born in New York city, and is the 
Duly man living who when a babe was baptized by 
Bishop Varick, the founder of the Zion Church. He 
prepared for college at New York city and Northamp- 
ton, Massachusetts, but on account of color prejudice 
he was obliged to go to Oberlin College, Ohio, as tlie 
only institution with a curriculum equal to that of 
Yale, admitting men of color. Graduated in 1847, 
and taking the degree A. B., he received the degree of 
A.M. in 1859 from Oberlin, his alma miater, and later 
on D.D. , from Livingstone College. He was elected 
professor of languages and mathematics by two col- 
leges, 1857; offered Latin tutorship, Lincoln, Eng- 
land, 1862. He visited Great Britain 1S59, and was 
received by the] Rt. Hon. the Earl Spencer at 
Spencer house, England; and by her grace the 
Duchess of Sutherland, the first lady in the kingdom 
next to her majesty, the Queen, at Stafford house, 
London. Subsequently by the lord provost of Edin- 



514 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

burg, vScotland; main speaker at a meeting of 3,000 
persons, in Music Hall, Dublin, Ireland, presided over 
by the Lord Mayor, clad in his official robe and jewel 
of office; addressed other thousands in England, 
Ireland and Scotland; in 1866 was ordained Deacon 
and Elder at Petersburg, Virginia, by Rt. Rev. J. J. 
Clinton; elected General Secretary by the General 
Conference in 1876, 1888, 1892 and 1896, for four years; 
pastor, presiding elder, general missionary, supervisor 
of missions, intellectual instructor, etc., during the 
past fifteen years in the Philadelphia and Baltimore 
Conference; unanimously elected President of the 
Board of School Control, Harrisburg, 1891-92, the 
only instance on record in the United States where a 
man of color, and the only colored member, has been 
successfully elected president of twenty-five men, 
fifteen Republicans and ten Democrats. Elected 
President of the Dauphin county (Pennsylvania) 
Directors' Association (comprising all the educational 
boards in the county), for five successive years, he the 
only colored member in the county, 1891-96, the only 
instance in the United States where such a fact appears. 
The fact carries its own comment, and in every respect 
is doubly creditable to the Board and to Doctor Day. 

Rev. Emperor Williams was born a slave in Nash- 
ville, Tennessee. He was sold into Louisiana in 1841 
to a builder. The builder had a difficult piece of 
cornice, and none of his white men could put it up. Wil- 
liams told his master that he could do it, and his master 
replied that if he could put it up he should have his 
freedom. Williams studied over the plan all night, 
and the next day took a gang of men and accomplished 
the difficult task. He was given his freedom. After- 
ward he attempted to buy his wife, offering $2,000 for 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 515 

her, but her master would not sell her. vSoon afterward 
General Butler took New Orleans, and Williams ir^t 
his wife for nothing and took his money and bouo-ht a 
home. While a slave Williams frequently wrote passes 
for himself. His master once asked him where he 
learned to write the passes. He said: "While I was 
collecting your rents for you." Thus frequently did 
the Negro succeed in getting the rudiments of an 
education. 

LAWYERS. 

The following is taken from an address by the Hon. 
J. T. Settle, delivered at Greenville, Mississippi : 

Gentlemen of the Colored Bar Association of Missis- 
sippi : I have listened with pleasure and profit to your 
excellent addresses on different legal topics, and I can 
pay you no higher compliment than to say you are an 
honor to the profession. I look upon this meeting as 
the dawn of a new era in the history of our race, it 
is no new thing for us to meet and participate in the 
public assemblages of men; in fact, one of the misfor- 
tunes of our people has been a too great love f(^r meet- 
ings and conventions of every kind, out of which little 
if any permanent good has ever accrued to us. The 
emotional side of our nature has ever been so easily 
reached that we have been too often used as instru- 
ments in the hands of others. 

First Annual Meeting —This organization, of which 
this is the first annual meeting, marks the advent of 
the colored citizen into a new field of labor. It 
evidences the existence of a suflficient number of col- 
ored lawyers in Mississippi engaged in active practice 
of the law to form a state organization to promote 
their interests individually and collectively, and in 
doing this they cannot fail to promote the interests of 



516 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

the entire race and to contribute to the general welfare 
of our common country, for we are as much a part of 
our composite nationality as any element it contains. 
It is no new thing for the residents of this beautiful 
delta to see gatherings of colored men. 

Politics and Religion have given us conventions and 
conferences at short intervals until some have come to 
believe that we take to them as naturally as birds to 
the air and fishes to the sea. But whoever thought 
that here in this beautiful city, queen of the valley, 
beside this great inland sea, would meet the first col- 
ored bar association ever organized in the United 
States? And I think I may safely say that never in 
the history of the race has there been a meeting 
fraught with more significance. It shows that the 
various and trying ordeals through which we have 
passed during the last fifteen or twenty years in this 
beautiful Southland, have evolved a class of men, 
educated, thoughtful and conservative — indeed, men 
who are alive to the present and prepared to meet the 
demands of the future. 

No Hope of Success. — Many of our friends and all of 
our enemies discourage us by saying that this was the 
one profession in which we could not hope to succeed. 
We have been compelled to realize that we are the 
representatives of that race which has labored in 
mental and physical servitude and suffered from polit- 
ical and social degradation since the planting of civili- 
zation on this continent. We realize in the beginning 
that the undertaking to become practical lawyers, 
and to acquire such a mastery of the law as to enter 
favorably upon its practice, was a serious one, and 
doubly so to us. 

Prejudice. — We have met unreasoning prejudice 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 517 

which denied lis excellence of any kind, which declared 
that we were without intellectual vigor and inventive 
power, and destitute of strength to grasp and persis- 
tency to retain and master any complex and profound 
proposition. In many instances we have commenced 
our trial before a jury whose pre-formcd judgment 
would disqualify them from sitting in any other case. 
We have often found, not our clients, but ourselves 
on trial, and not ourselves alone, but the whole race 
with us — a race which is condemned for the faihire of 
its individuals, while the success of every member of 
it is pronounced exceptional and due to incidental 
conditions. 

Equal to Struggles. — We have made good soldiers 
and successful teachers, we have produced some g-reat 
preachers and distinguished speakers, and this meeting 
demonstrated the fact that we are eqi:al to the hard, 
tough and long continued struggles of the bar, in some 
respects the severest test that can be applied to a 
man; and yet the world may be slow to admit our 
success until, perhaps, we have produced an attorney- 
general or a justice of the supreme court. 

Not All Succeed. — I do not mean to say that every 
young man of color who has begun the practice of law 
has succeeded; no, not by any means. Nor is this 
true of the young men of any race, for along life's 
highway, in all of the professions, are m.any wrecks 
which mark the weakness and frailty of human char- 
acter ; and here I think I may safely say that one of 
the principal causes of failure in the legal profession 
is the want of sufficient preparation. 

An Oily Tongue.— Some persons unwisely think 
that all that is necessary to constitute a successful 
lawyer is an oily tongue, a vivid imagination and a 



518 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

great capacity to lie ; in fact, some people profess to 
think that lawyer and liar are synonymous terms. 
Such persons, it is needless for me to say, know but 
little of the law and still less of the lawyer. They 
forget or do not think, that the contests of lawyers are 
not "ex-parte. " They confront each other before 
learned and astute courts and in the presence of the . 
world, where lies and frauds have the least possible 
chance of success, and where exposure would usually 
prove fatal to a cause. 

A Good Education. — No lawyer can build a splendid 
professional career upon an insufficient education any 
more than he can build a monument of stone upon a 
foundation of sand. I do not mean to say a collegiate 
education is absolutely necessary to a successful career, 
but it is a great help. Few men ever reached distinc- 
tion in the law who were not thorough scholars. Many 
also fail who are well equipped intellectually because 
they depend upon the oily tongue and vivid imagina- 
tion rather than real earnest work. 

Courage. — Courage, moral and physical, are both 
necessary elements of character. There is probably 
no element of character that inspires so much admira- 
tion and creates so quick and enthusiastic a following 
as this. A man who is afraid of nothing in the 
discharge of his duty, afraid of no consequence 
personal to himSelf, has his battle half won before he 
strikes a blow. So great is the popular admiration of 
courage that it has always been surrounded by a halo 
of romance. 

Earnestness and Enthusiasm are also so essential 
that I cannot refrain from mentioning them in this 
connection. I name them together because they are 
so nearly akin ; indeed, enthusiasm is only earnestness 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 510 

carried to white heat; they are the only quahties that 
can take the place of personal magnetism in comi)ell- 
ing sympathy. Earnestness comes from strong 
conviction and strong feeling; enthusiasm rising out 
of it is the fusion and sublimation of all the elements 
of power within a man, and is strong in proportion as 
it is rational; the moment it becomes mere passion it 
becomes weakness. The world refuses to be moved 
by men who are not in earnest. Human nature is 
very much like iron — if you would bend it or shape it 
you must heat it. Earnestness is the furnace; 
enthusiasm the fire whose flames need only to envelop 
other minds to make plastic or ductile. 

Citizens. — We are citizens of this country by nativity, 
not by choice or adoption, and here, imdcr Ciod's 
providence, we mean to stay, and strike glad liands 
with all lovers of justice, work out our own destinies 
and vie with every other nationality in developing the 
material resources and contributing to the greatness of 
our beloved Southland. Agitators may discuss the so- 
called race problem, but in the busy, active duties of 
life we have no time for theories. We should prepare 
ourselves by every energy of mind and soul to solve 
the problem put to us by those by whom we are 
surrounded, and with whom we live, viz.: "The 
survival of the fittest. " Citizens by nativity, we have 
no other land to love. To this we have given our 
labor for more than one hundred years; in defense of 
her flag we have given our lives; to sustain her integ- 
rity we have contributed whatever was demanded of 
us. At all times have we been faithful and reliable. 

We have never been numbered among our country's 
enemies. We have never been found in the ranks of 
the Socialists and Anarchists in their attack upon 



520 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



social order and our free institutions. Yet we have 
lived under a condition of things at times unequaled 
in the history of civilized government. 

True to Our Native Land. — Erin's sons were never 
truer to the Emerald Isle, nor the Highlander to Scot- 




HON. J. T. SETTLE. 



land's cliffs and crags than we to the land of our birth. 
What member of any race ever gave expression to 
loftier sentiments of patriotism in the American Con- 
gress than the distinguished lawyer and scholar, Hon. 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO- AMERICAN RACK. 5^1 

John M. Langston, of Virginia, when from his scat in 
that august body he said: "Ah, my white fellow 
citizens on the other side of the house, and on every 
side, black as we are, no man shall go ahead of us in 
devotion to this country, in devotion to its free insti- 
tutions, for we hold our lives, our property and our 
sacred honor in pledge to the welfare of our country 
and of all our fellow citizens. Do you want us to 
fight for our flag? Call on us and we will come. Do 
you want men to tarry at home and take care of your 
wives and children, to take care of your homes and 
protect your interests? Call on us, and we will sacredly 
keep and perform every trust and obligation. ' ' 

History and Patriotism.— Every member of the 
race echoes these sentiments, and in the years to come, 
when man's passions and prejudices have subsided, 
impartial history will give to no race a prouder place 
in their country's history than we shall possess, and no 
race or condition of people will be prompted bv a purer 
or loftier patriotism than we, in our efforts to make 
our beloved South the home of a happy, prosperous 
and contented people. 

Hon. J. T. Settle.~The subject of this sketch was 
born upon the mountains of East Tennessee, Septem- 
ber 30, 1850, while his parents w^ere "in transit" from 
North Carolina to Mississippi. In 1S56 he was carried 
to Ohio and located at Hamilton, w^here he attended 
the public school until 1866, Avhen he was sent to 
Oberlin, where he prepared and entered college in 1S68. 
He was one of the three or four colored boys in a class 
numbering forty-five or fifty. Yet he was chosen as 
one of the eight orators to represent his class when 
they entered college, an honor much coveted by all 
students. 



PROGRESS OP A RACE. 

Mr. Settle completed his Freshman year and entered 
the Sophomore class at Oberlin. In 1869, having lost 
his father, who had indeed been a father in the broadest 
sense of the word, he left Oberlin, went to Washington 
City, and entered the Sophomore class of Howard Uni- 
versity, where he pursued his college studies and taught 
in the preparatory department. 

He graduated from the college department of 
Howard University in 1872. In the latter portion of 
his senior year he was elected "Reading Clerk" of the 
House of Delegates (the District of Columbia then 
being under a territorial form of government) and at 
the time of his graduation was performing his duties 
as reading clerk of the legislature, teaching a class in 
Latin and one in mathematics daily at the universit)'' 
and pursuing his own studies at the same time. 

Immediately upon his graduation from college he 
entered the law department of the same institution. 

Upon his graduation from the law department he 
was selected as one of the orators to represent his class. 
He was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of 
the District of Columbia, but having determined to 
make his chosen profession his life's work, he left the 
District of Columbia in the spring of 1875 and located 
in North Mississippi, where he at once engaged in the 
practice of law. He returned the same year and was 
married to Miss Therese T. Voglesong, of Annapolis, 
Maryland, and again made his home in Mississippi. 
In 1876 he was a delegate to the National Republican 
convention. He was the only delegate from Mississippi 
who voted for the nomination of Roscoe Conkling for 
President, and continued to vote for him as long as his 
name was before the convention. 

Mr. Settle was elector for the state at large on the 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 5L'3 

Hayes and Wheeler ticket. In iSSo he was Presi- 
dential elector on the Garfield and Arthur ticket. 

In 1883 Mr. Settle was nominated and elected to the 
legislature upon an independent ticket, being strongly 
opposed to the fusion his party made with the Democ- 
racy. It was during this canvass that lie made tlu- 
most brilliant efforts of his life. He was met ])y UK- 
ablest speakers on both sides; but before the people 
he was irresistible, and was triumphantly elected by 
more than 1,200 majority. 

Upon his return from the legislature he determined 
to abandon active participation in politics and devote 
his time and energy to the practice of law; he left 
Mississippi and located in Memphis, where he is now 
living. About two months after his location in Mem- 
phis, he was appointed assistant attorney-general of 
the criminal court of Shelby county; whicli position he 
held over two years. The manner in which he dis- 
charged the responsible duties of prosecuting are thus 
put by the Hon. A. H. Douglass, w^ho was upon the 
bench at that time: "His uniform attention to official 
business, his manly courtesy and amiability, won him 
the esteem and respect of the bench, the bar and Hti- 
gants, and went very far to break down the existing 
prejudices against his color in the profession. II is talent 
is fully recognized and his integrity has in no instance 
been in the least questioned from any source. He 
prosecuted without acerbity and with fairness, but 
neglected no legitimate resources to fix the conviction 
on the really guilty. He is such a master of elocution, 
and displays such fluency, and indeed brilliancy, that 
he invariably captivated those who listened to him. 
He is remarkably simple in his manners, and utterly 
without ostentation, and is an honor to his profession. ' 



524 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

He is now comfortably situated in a handsome two- 
story residence in a beautiful part of the city, where he 
enjoys the esteem and confidence of a large circle of 
friends. 

Hon. Samuel McElwee. Lawyer, Legislator, Orator. 
— It is wonderful how easily some men rise in the 
world, and how hard others struggle to accomplish the 
same things. Every step with some seems marked 
with severe toils, bitter hardships, and apparently 
insurmountable difficulties. But when at last the goal 
has been attained, the prize seems ever so sweet, aye, 
sweeter that it could possibly be without the conflicts 
and discouragements. Samuel Allen McElwee is a 
brave soul, who can wear on the forehead, "Through 
difficulties to the stars." The chains of slavery bound 
his body not half so tightly as ignorance his mind. 
When the war ended he could not write. He was a 
farmer's boy, for many years going to school but three 
months in the year. Yet he studied until midnight, 
burning patiently the light which would give him an 
opportunity to read, which in future years gave him a 
brighter light whereby he might see the condition of 
his race, and find a remedy for their many ills. Though 
worn with the daily toil, he never neglected his studies, 
and on examination day entered with his class and 
passed the tests from the year 1868 to 1874. He then 
taught school. He often tells how, at that, time, he 
was infiuenced by The National Era^ Fred Douglass' 
paper, and how he longed for more education. He 
matriculated at Oberlin, and waited on the table, picked 
currants, and washed dishes for his board. At the end 
of the year he went to Mississippi, where he taught 
school for five years. Then he taught a year in 
Alabama. He once walked thirty miles to secure a 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO- AMERICAN RACE. 5'J5 

school in Tennessee. He was often without money, 
and even a place to sleep. Anxious to obtain means 
to return to college, he commenced selling Lyman's 
Historical Charts, Bibles and Medicines. Failing to 
make enough money to return to college, he deter- 
mined to study under a private teacher. After teach- 
ing a large school in the day, he would walk ten miles 
two nights in the week to recite in Latin, Greek, 
German and Algebra to a white student at Vanderbilt 
University. Mark that, young man; victory awaits 
the daring, and reward always follows the persevering. 
The student teacher was so impressed with the story 
of this Negro's perseverance in seeking an education 
that he told the president of Fisk University of the 
ambitious boy. The president invited him to enter 
the University. After a year in the scMiior prcjxiratory 
class, he entered college and graduated in 1S83. In 
the campaign of 1882, he traveled over the eighth and 
ninth districts of Tennessee for the Republican party, 
advocating a just settlement of the state debt. While 
he was yet a student in January, 1883, he took his scat 
in the Tennessee legislature, and served three terms 
as a statesman and orator. He studied law in e'cn'ral 
Tennessee College, and was graduated in 1885. He 
was a delegate to the Chicago convention which nom- 
inated Hon. J. G. Blaine, c.nd with six others voted for 
him on every ballot. Mr. McElwee takes a deeji in- 
terest in the moral, social and industrial future of his 
people. He is a magnetic speaker, forcible debater, 
and an indefatigable worker, a manly man and a truly 
honest citizen. His speech on "Mobs," in the Ten- 
nessee legislature, was widely circulated. Mr. Mc- 
Elwee's popularity with the people of his race is 
unbounded. He lives honestly and soberly, thus 



526 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



challenging their admiration and winning their friend- 
ship. Mr. McElwee was married in 1888 to Miss 
Georgia Shelton, the daughter of one of Nashville's 
most prominent and refined families. In a beautiful 




HON. J. C. NAPIER. 



residence, opposite Central Tennessee College, Mr. 
and Mrs. McElwee, with their two children, reside. 
Their hospitality is widely known. The past few 
years have been devoted solely to the practice of law, 
in which he ranks with the best white legal lights 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMi: RIC AN RACE. 527 

before the national bar. He has a lucrative practice. 
His impassioned and forcible eloquence appeals to 
judge and jury in defense of right and condemnation 
of wrong. Mr. McElwee declares that his color is no 
barrier to his practice, and that he receives due recog- 
nition from the judges and the legal fraternity in 
general. He is still a hard student, and finds pleasant 
society with his books, and in keeping abreast with the 
latest legal news of the day. He is a brilliant conver- 
sationalist, of pleasing address, and a ready speaker. 
He is a devout member of St. Paul's Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, and perhaps the fact that he is a true 
Christian gentleman speaks the best for the man. 

Among the Older Members of the Legal Profession 
are D. Augustus Straker, of Detroit; J. C. Napier and 
S. A. McElwee, of Nashville ; Hale G. Parker, of Chi- 
cago; J. Madison Vance, of New Orleans, O. F. Gar- 
rett, of Greenville, Mississippi; H. F. Bowles, of 
Natchez; J. E. Burgee, Chattanooga, Tennessee; W. 
M. Gibbs and S. A. Jones, of Little Rock, Arkansas; 
J. T. Little and B. F. Booth, of Memphis, Tennessee. 

James Carrol Napier. — The subject of this sketch 
was born near Nashville, Tennessee, June 9, 1848. 
He received his primary education in such schools as 
were permitted for colored people in Nashville before 
the war, and in 1859 was sent to Wilberforce Univer- 
sity, near Xenia, Ohio. From thence he went to 
Oberlin, where he remained until near the completion 
of his junior college year, when he left school to accept 
a position in the government service in the War depart- 
ment at Washington, D. C. In 1873 he was graduated 
from the law department of Howard University, and 
was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of the 
District of Columbia. Passing a civil service examina- 

35 Progress 



528 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

tion, he was appointed to a first-class clerkship in the 
bureau of the Sixth Auditor, the first of his race in that 
branch of the government service. His services in that 
position were so satisfactory that he was in a short time 
promoted to a clerkship in the bookkeeping division, 
which position he resigned, after three years' service, 
to take the responsible position of Revenue Agent for 
the Internal Revenue District embracing the states of 
Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Louisiana, in 
which position he was repeatedly complimented by the 
department for the efficiency with which he performed 
his duties. Desiring to return to his home at Nash- 
ville, he resigned the position of Internal Revenue 
Agent to become a Ganger in the Fifth Internal Rev- 
enue District of Tennessee, and after a long and hon- 
orable service in such capacity, was promoted to be a 
Deputy Collector, which position he filled with great 
credit to himself and the entire satisfaction of the 
government until the advent of Cleveland's first 
administration, when he was relieved to give place to 
a Democrat. 

In 1878 Mr. Napier revisited Washington to marry the 
only daughter of Hon. John M. Langston, then Min- 
ister to Hayti, a woman of broad culture, high educa- 
tion and superior intellect, a step which has never been 
regretted by either. 

Immediately after his retirement from the govern- 
ment service, Mr. Napier entered upon the practice of 
law at Nashville, and has been engaged therein con- 
tinuously to the present time. Beginning as an inex- 
perienced practitioner, he has, by dint of industry 
and close application, advanced step by step to the 
enviable position which he now occupies as a citizen 
and a member of the Nashville bar. As was natural, 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 529 

he lias associated politics with law, and in this field he 
has been eminently successful also. Never descend- 
ing to the plane of the ward politician, his political 
life has been so Straightforward, clean and fearless as 
to give confidence and inspiration to his party asso- 
ciates and demand the respect of men of all parties. 
He was four times elected a member of the City 
Council of Nashville, and as the representative of the 
colored population of that city, with the assistance of 
his fellow citizens, secured the appointment of colored 
teachers in the public schools, the erection of new and 
additional school buildings, and did much to bettei 
their educational and financial condition. He is the 
representative of the colored Republicans in the State 
of Tennessee, and has been a member of the Repub- 
lican State Executive Committee for sixteen consecu- 
tive years, during which time he has served a 
considerable period as its acting chairman, and six 
. years as its secretary. He has been four times elected 
a delegate to the National Republican Convention, 
once as the representative of his Congressional District, 
and three times from the state-at-largc, one of the 
highest honors within the gift of the Republicans of a 
state. He is at present a member of the National 
Executive Committee of the Republican League. 

Mr. Napier has not only been successful as a lawyer 
and politician, but financially as well. Fortune has 
followed honor, and he is regarded as one of the most 
substantial citizens of Nashville. May we not hope 
that such an exhibition of tact, industry and intelli- 
gence will be an inspiration to the youth of the 
country wherever this sketch is read. 



530 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Colored Attorneys of Nashville, Tenn.: 

Abbot, G. T. Hodgkins, W. H. 

Anderson, G. F. Kizer, J. W. 

Cheairs, H. B. Menefee, A. 

Cameron, H. A. Napier, J. C. 

Crosthwait, W. A. McElwee, S. A. 

Ewing, P. A. Robinson, G. T. 

Ewing, T. G., Sr. Smith, N. B. 

Grant, J. W. Woods, Z. T. 

The Colored Bar of Chicago. — Over thirty colored 
men and one colored woman have been regularly admit- 
ted to the Illinois bar, and are now practicing law in 
Chicago. Considering the fact that less than forty 
years ago a large majority of the race in this country 
to which these colored lawyers belong, and that sev- 
eral of the lawyers themselves, were slaves, the 
race prejudice that they had to overcome, and the dif- 
ficulties they had to encounter, with no rich and influ- 
ential friends to give them a helping hand, the record 
they have made at the bar is an honor to the race, and 
well may their example be held up to the colored men 
and women of other cities as worthy of imitation. It 
is stated on good authority that no other city has had 
as large a number of colored lawyers. They are not 
only graduates of law colleges, but of universities as 
well. Some of them have been teachers for years. 

Names. — The names of the colored lawyers of 
Chicago in the order in which they were admitted to 
the bar are: Lloyd G. Wheeler, Richard A. Dawson, 
Ferdinand L. Barnett, Louis Washington, Edward H. 
Morris, J. W. E. Thomas, Maurice Bauman, John G. 
Jones, R. O. Lee, George W. W. Lytle, S. Laing 
Williams, Franklin A. Dennison, Charles P. Walker, 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 



531 



Edward G. Alexander, Lewis W. Cumminp^s, W. W. 
Johnson, S. A. T. Watkins, William H. Ward, M. A. 
Mardis, Albert G. Hubbard, James H. Lewis, J. Gray 
Lucas, Hale Giddings Parker, Jas. E. White, W. B. 
Akers, Charles W. Scrutchin, R. M. Mitchell, William 
G. Anderson, Thomas L. Johnson, Miss Ida Phut, 
John L. Turner, Beauregard F. Mosely, E. II. 
Wright. 

Lloyd G. Wheeler was the first colored man ever 
admitted to the Chicago bar. Mr. Wheeler is an in- 
telligent and worthy gentleman, an honor to his race, 

and no disgrace to the 
bar of Illinois. He 
married the niece of 
John Jones, now de- 
ceased, one of the 
most worthy and re- 
spectable of Chicago 
colored citizens, who 
had been a slave, 
and who, by work- 
ing over hours at tail- 
oring, purchased his 
freedom. It was at 
Mr. Jones' house that 
John Brown was se- 
creted when a reward 
was offered for his 
deliver}\ Mr. Jones 
diedin 1 879, wealthy, 
and at the time of his 
death was carrying on a profitable business. To this 
business Mr. Williams has given his undivided atten- 
tion since that time. 




LLOYD G. WHEELER. 



582 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Louis Washington was born in Alabama. His com- 
plexion^ is no counterfeit, it is plain, genuine black. 
He was a slave until 1863, when, inspired by the love 
of freedom, not having heard of President Lincoln's 
proclamation freeing the slaves, and having been told 
there was a large army at Vicksburg which liberated 
all the slaves who came into its lines, he left his mas- 
ter's service unbidden, walked barefooted from Enon 
to Vicksburg, and there entered the service. After 
the war, by dint of hard work and strict economy, he 
succeeded in acquiring money enough to attend school. 
While at Wheaton College, Illinois, the bank in which 
he deposited his money failed, and he lost nearly three 
hundred dollars, which compelled him to forego the 
pleasure of completing his course. He afterward took 
a course in the Union College of Law, and was admit- 
ted to the Illinois bar in 1879. 

E. H. Morris, the leader of the colored bar in Chi- 
cago, was born a slave in Kentucky in 1859. He has 
lived in Chicago twenty-six years. When he was 
admitted to the bar, in 1879, he was unable to purchase 
a suit of clothes to make himself presentable, and so 
kept on his long overcoat, and during the examination 
had it buttoned up so as not to show the fractures 
which time and wear had made in his antiquated pants. 
Contrast the situation of this poor lawyer with that of 
the Mr. Morris of today ! He now receives in cash for 
his professional services over ten thousand dollars a 
year, not including his services as south tovv^n attor- 
ney. He is worth more than $50,000 in Chicago real 
estate. 

J. W. E. Thomas served a year in the Illinois House 
of Representatives, and is among the wealthiest 
colored men in the city of Chicago. 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 



533 



S. Laing Williams entered the University of Mich- 
igan and graduated with the class of 1881 rcceivinir 
the A. B. degree. ' 

After teaching for 
some time in Ala- 
bama, he was ap- 
pointed to a position 
in the Pension office 
at Washington. In 
1885 he resigned and 
came to Chicago to 
practice law. While 
in Washington he en- 
tered the law depart- 
ment of the Colum- 
bian University, and 
after finishing his 
course took post- 
graduate work in the 
same school. Mr. 
Williams is a fine 
student, and in schol- 
arly ability has no superior among the colored lawyers 
of Chicago. He is the husband of Mrs. Fannie Barrier 
Williams, who is the first and only colored woman ever 
admitted to membership in the Chicago Woman's 
Club. 

Franklin A. Dennison was born in San Antonio, 
Texas, and educated at Lincoln University, Pennsyl- 
vania, and was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1S79. 
For a number of years he was chief assisting prose- 
cuting attorney. 

Miss Ida Piatt was born in Chicago of colored 
parents, September, 1863. She was educated in the 




S. LAING WILLIAMS. 



534 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



public schools of Chicago, and graduated from the 

High School with honor at the age of sixteen. She is. 

the only colored woman admitted to the Illinois bar. 

For nearly nine years she was private secretary in 

an insurance office, 
then, while stenog- 
rapher in a law 
office, commenced 
the study of law. 
She graduated from 
the Chicago College 
of Law in 1894, and 
received her license 
to practice in June 
of that year. One 
of the judges of the 
court, in signing his 
name to her license, 
said: "We have done 
today what we never 
did before ; admitted 
a colored woman to 
the bar ; and it may 

now be truly said 
MISS IDA PLATT. OF CHICAGO. ^^^^ persous arc now 
First colored lady admitted to the bar ^ -^^ 1 ^ J_^ ru- 
in Illinois. admitted to the Illi- 
nois bar without re- 
gard to race, sex or color. ' ' Miss Piatt is a woman of 
very decided ability, and entered upon her professional 
career with talents possessed by few. 

Taylor G. Ewing was born of slave parents near 
Nashville in 1849. He experienced all the horrors of 
slavery until 1861, when he ran off, going to Nash- 
ville, where he managed to get work at Fort Negley. 




PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 535 

After the close of the war, he began work as a barber. 
During the evening he attended school with the deter- 
mination to obtain an education. He then went to 
teaching, and taught school for four years, and tlien 
received an appointment in the revenue service, which 
he held until 1885. During this time, he began the 
study of law, and in 1886 he was admitted to the bar, 
and since then has engaged in the practice of kiw, and 
has succeeded in building up a large and hicrativc 
practice. By thrift and economy he has accumukitcd 
considerable property, and is estimated to be worth 
about $10,000. 

Alfred Menefee.— Probably the oldest colored man 
practicing law is Alfred Menefee. He is seventy 
years of age, and is a successful lawyer in Nashville, 
although he has never had the advantages of a schol- 
astic training. 

J. W. Grant. — In the fourth year of the war, J. W. 
Grant was taken from his home near Sparta, Tennes- 
see, by the 14th U. S. colored troops. After expe- 
riencing the hardships of soldier life, he returned to his 
mother, and then, besides attempting to support his 
mother and sisters, he attended school as best he could 
until he was sufficiently educated to teach. He enter- 
ed Fisk University in 1871. The close of the first year 
found him without a dollar or any opening to make a 
cent. Not being able to secure means to return to 
school, he taught for twelve successive years. In 1887 
he entered Central Tennessee College, graduating in 
1890, and immediately entered the law department of 
that institution. In 1894 he was chosen a member of 
the faculty of the law department of Central Tennes- 
see College, and in 1895 he was elected Dean of the col- 
lege, which position he now holds. He is worth $ i o, 000, 



536 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

and has a beautiful residence in Nashville. His only 
daughter will graduate from Fisk University in 1899. 

William Richard Morris was born February 22, 
1859, near Flemingsburg, Kentucky. He entered 
Fisk University at Nashville, Tennessee, when seven- 
teen years of age, and graduated with high honors 
from the classical department in the class ol 1884. As 
a student he was apt, studious, strictly first grade in 
all his studies, and was known as a bright scholar, a 
fine essayist, a logical debater, a correct thinker, and 
an eloquent, forcible speaker. For five years he taught 
in Fisk University, giving entire satisfaction in teach- 
ing mathematics, languages and the sciences. He was 
at the time the only colored teacher of the institution. 

In 1885, he represented the colored people of the 
South at the annual meeting of the A. M. A., at Mad- 
ison, Wisconsin, and delivered 'an address entitled, 
"The Negro at Present," that won for him a broad 
reputation. In 1886, the State Superintendent of 
Education of Tennessee employed him to hold insti- 
tutes for colored teachers of that state. 

He received the degree of Master of Arts from his 
Alma Mater in 1887, and the same year was admitted 
to the bar by the Supreme Court of Illinois in a class 
of twenty-four, he being the only colored man. In 
the examination he and two others received the same 
and highest mark. He has also been admitted to the 
bar by the Supreme Court of Tennessee, and practiced 
some at Chicago and Nashville. 

In June, 1889, he resigned his position at Fisk 
University, came to Minneapolis, and, having been 
admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court, opened a 
law office, and was the first colored lawyer to appear 
before the courts of Hennepin county, Minnesota 



PERSONAGES OF THE A FRO- AMERICAN RACE. f),?? 




HON. JOHN M. LANGSTON. 

Hon. John M. Langston, A. M., LL. D., was bom a 

slave in Virginia. He takes the name of his mother. 
His father was his owner, and upon his death John 



538 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

was set free. Thereupon he was sent to Ohio, and 
educated at Oberlin, graduating in 1853. In 1867 
he was appointed inspector of the colored schools, 
and made a trip through the South, and the same 
year was admitted to practice in the United States 
Supreme Court. For some years he was dean of 
the law department of Howard University. In 1877 
he was appointed Minister to Hayti by President 
Hayes. Upon his return in 1885, he was elected 
president of the Virginia Normal and Collegiate Insti- 
tute, which position he filled for two years, and was 
then elected a member of the List Congress to represent 
the state of Virginia. Mr. Langston has exerted a 
wide influence for good on the race in the many posi- 
tions he has held. He has for years been at the head 
of the legal profession among men of his color in 
Washington. He is a man of wealth, and lives in his 
beautiful "Hillsdale Cottage" in Washington. Mr. 
Langston is one of the ablest lawyers of his race. He 
is author of ** Freedom and Citizenship" and "From 
the Virginia Plantation to the National Capitol. ' ' 

Isaac F. Bradley. — This gentleman is a rising young 
lawyer of Kansas City, Wyandotte county, Kansas. He 
is studious, honorable and upright in his dealings, and 
is highly respected by both bench and bar of Wyan- 
dotte county, and well deserves the success he is now 
enjoying. 

Mr. Bradley was born at Hazelwood Hall, near Cam- 
bridge, Saline county, Missouri, September 8, 1862. 

As a result of the criminal practice of that cruel 
institution which flourised at that time, he never saw 
his father; hence, from the beginning his way was 
not smooth, thus he received very little schooling in 
his youth. Being anxious, however, to obtain a good 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACK. 539 

education, he saved his earnings, and in i88r, entered 
Lincoln Institute at Jefferson City, Missouri, from 
which he graduated with the full course in' June. 
1885. In the fall of the same year he entered the law 
school of the Kansas State University ; took the dc^^rcc 
LL. B., June 1887, and was admitted to the practice 
of law; opened an office in Kansas City, Kansas, and 
now enjoys a good practice. In April, 1S89, he was 
elected justice of the peace for two years, and dis- 
charged the duties with credit. He is active in polit- 
ics, ready and willing at all times to espouse the cause 
of his race. He is now first assistant prosecuting 
attorney of Wyandotte county, Kansas, the most pop- 
ulous and wealthy county in the state. 

B. S. Smith, the subject of this sketch, is one of the 
most widely, as well as favorably, known negro attor- 
neys west of the Mississippi river. He was born in 
Arkansas, August 6, 1862, of slave parentage. Left 
an orphan at an early age, he wandered to central 
Illinois, where in 1876 he took up his residence in 
Springfield, and entered the public schools of that 
city, working for his board and lodging, and in 1SS3 
graduated with honor from the High School (one of 
the finest in the state). Thereupon he immediately 
secured employment on a stock farm in Logan county, 
where he worked until October, 18S4, when, having 
earned sufficient money to attend college, he entered 
the law department of the University of Michigan, 
and graduated from that institution in 1886. 

Mr. Smith immediately entered upon the practice of 
his profession, locating in Kansas City, Kansas, in 
1887, where he now has a lucrative and growing prac- 
tice, stands high in the community, having served 
four years as an alderman in his adopted home, and 



540 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



was elected on the Republican ticket, presidential 
elector in 1892. He has now abandoned politics 
altogether, and devotes his entire time to his practice. 




HON. S. J. JENKINS, AUSTIN, TEXAS. 

S. J. Jenkins is a prominent lawyer of Austin, Texas. 
He has been prominent in politics, and is at present 
President of the Deaf, Dumb and Blind Asylum at 
Austin. 

Daniel M. Mason is one of the prominent lawyers of 
Dallas, Texas. Mr. Mason entered Howard Univer- 
sity in 1886, graduating in 1890. He then entered 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 541 

the law department of this institution, and graduated 
with honors two years later. Since then he has prac- 
ticed law in Dallas, Texas, and as a young; man of his 
profession is meeting with success. 

THE COLORED MAN IN MEDICINE. 

Voodoos. — When the civil war was over, and Uic 
smoke of battle had cleared away, the field in the 
South was occupied by the red-eyed "voodoo," who 
styled himself a "doctor." There were, at that time, 
possibly two or three exceptions to this rule, but only 
two or three. 

Should you ask these voodoos, better known among 
the illiterate as " root- workers, " what might be their 
business, the answer would quickly be given something 
like this : ' ' My trade, dat am a doctor. " " Is that so ? " 
"Yes, sar, I is a root doctor from 'way back; and when 
I gets done standing at de forks ob de road at midnight, 
puUin' up roots twixt de hollowing ob de owcls, and 
gittin' a little fresh dirt from de grave yard, honey, 
der am suffin 'agwinter drop. " 

This being, with his weird stories, went forth among 
a people who were rocked, as it were, in the cradle of 
superstition, and early became monarch of all he sur- 
veyed. He was known and feared throughout the 
country. He claimed to be able to cure anything from 
consumption to an unruly wife or husband, and fur- 
nishing charms to make love matches, and to keep the 
wife or husband at home, was one of his specialties. 

Every patient they called on they diagnosed the 
trouble thus: He or she was tricked; if pneumonia, 
they were tricked; if a fever, they were tricked; or if 
a case of consumption, they were tricked. 

Their stock of medicine, if such we must call it 



542 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

generally consisted of such things as these : small bags 
of graveyard soil, rabbits' feet, rusty nails, needles, 
pins, goose grease, snake skins, and many other such 
things. 

I say, a little more than a generation ago, this was 
the class of so-called "colored doctors" that predomi- 
nated in the South, and which for many years was a 
great stumbling block to the educated physicians of 
our race, because it seemed to be understood that all 
"colored doctors" were and must be "root doctors." 

But thank Him who holds the destinies of races in 
His hands that in the flight of years, and in this 
electric age of progress, this "voodoo doctor" has 
almost — not entirely, but almost — passed away, while 
his territory is being occupied by colored physicians 
whose qualifications in education, character and honor 
are equal to similar qualifications in the physicians of 
any other race. 

The Contrast. — Thirty years ago, there were few, if 
any, Negro physicians to be found, says Dr. L. T. 
Burbridge, while today there is scarcely a Southern 
town and a large proportion of the Northern towns 
and cities that cannot boast of one or more colored 
physicians, regular graduates of authorized medical 
colleges. While this is true, we are compelled to 
admit that there is a field for many more. It is esti- 
mated that there is one white physician to every 300 
of his people, while there is only one colored doctor to 
every 9,000 of his people. This furnishes an idea of 
our need, for we feel assured that when the colored 
physician become more numerous, so as not to be a 
rare object, then he will be more respected by all 
classes of people. Then, too, we feel proud to state 
that the practice of the colored doctor is by no means 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO- AMERICAN RACE. 543 

confined solely to his own race. The Net^ro physician 
enjoys in many instances a small but crrowin^^ white pat- 
ronage. This, in itself, is a confession of a recognition 
of skill and ability, wrung, as it were, from the lips 
of the oppressor. 

Patronage. — The colored physician does not ask 
patronage on the score of color, and on the other hand 
he does not want to be denied work on that account. 
He does not ask that allowances be made for his defi- 
ciencies because he is a Negro, and on the other hand, 
he does not want to be denied the privileges that skill 
and ability should demand for any medical man, 
whether white or black. A recognition of skill and 
competency is all that he asks, regardless of color. In 
other words, he wants to be treated as a man — one 
who has fully prepared himself to do the work as 
thoroughly and skillfully as any other man, of what- 
ever nationality. The Negro physician realizes the 
fact that this is his only hope for successfully overcom- 
ing the many discouraging features of his work, and 
with this fact in view, he has ever bent diligently to 
the accomplishment of the task set before him. 

Advantages. — The advantages offered to the colored 
man for a medical education are good. Meharry, New 
Orleans and Shaw Medical Colleges, in the South, arc 
doing good work, and in the North but few, if any, 
doors are closed against the colored aspirant; while 
England, France and Germany all extend to him a wel- 
coming hand. And, if yet we have not a Treve, wc 
have a Newman, if we have not a Koch, we have a 
Stewart, and if we have not a Sims, we have a Boyd. 
These are among the pioneers of the Negro medical 
profession, and where they leave off their posterity 
will take up and carry on the work so well begun. 

36 Progress 



544 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Influence. — While the farmer, the mechanic, the 
teacher, the newspaper man, and the lawyers of our 
race are laboring in their spheres, the physicians of 
the race are spending their talents, their little means, 
and their life for the elevation of their people, physi- 
cally, morally and spiritually, and too often without 
remuneration. These men are doing much good for 
their people and the communities in which they live. 

Physicians of Today. — The colored physicians in 
the South today are men and women fully equipped 
in education, morals and integrity for the high calling 
they have elected, as their noble work will show. 

In the United States today there are about one thou- 
sand colored physicians, men and women, and more 
than seven hundred of them are located in the Southern 
states. While they represent the homeopathic and 
eclectic schools, yet the regulars are largely in the 
majority. 

Women. — The colored women have gone into the 
profession very rapidly. They are scattered through- 
out the South, and are doing a good practice. While 
most of the medical schools are open to them, they 
come largely from Ann Arbor, Hov/ard, Meharry and 
the school in Kentucky, and also the Woman' s Med- 
ical College of Philadelphia. Dr. Alice McCain, of 
Savannah, Georgia, is the only lady physician in that 
state. Her husband is a fine physician also. She is a 
graduate of the Woman's Medical College of Philadel- 
phia, and he of the University of Vermont. 

There is one thing commendable about our female 
physicians, as well as our male ph37sicians, and that is 
they come from good schools, and are fully prepared 
for their work. They, too, should be encouraged as 
they go forth to their labors. 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 545 

Reception by White Profession.— The white phy- 
sicians of the South, especially the better class of 
them, give the colored members of the profession a 
hearty welcome into the field. They always have a 
kind word for them; they encourage the people to 
employ their own physicians; they lend them" their 
instruments, and come in consultation whenever called. 
This is not local, but is reported to us from all parts 
of the South. 

Their Wealth.— The colored physicians in the South, 
most of them, are in better circumstances than their 
brethren in the North and East. Most of them have 
beautiful homes, fine horses, city and town lots; while 
some have plantations and others large bank accounts. 
One of the wealthiest colored physicians with whom 
we are acquainted is Dr. H. T. Noel, of Tennessee, 
whose wealth is estimated to be about $85,000. 

The American Medical Association of Colored Phy- 
sicians and Surgeons was organized in November, 
1895, at Atlanta, Georgia. Its necessity grew out of 
the fact that colored physicians of the South are nut 
admitted to the old organization. The second bi-ennial 
meeting will be held in Nashville, Tennessee, October 
15 and 16, 1897. A large attendance is expected. 

Dr. R. F. Boyd, of Nashville, Tennessee, is presi- 
dent; Dr. D. L. Martin is secretary. The programme 
of the coming session includes many of the most 
prominent colored physicians of the country. 

The Southern Empire State Medical Association 
of Georgia held its fourth annual meeting in Macon, 
July I and 2, 1897. This association is composed of 
the colored physicians and surgeons of the state. It 
is in a flourishing condition. It was organized by Dr. 
H. R. Butler, A. M., M. D., who was elected the first 
president and served one year. 



546 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



The colored physicians are organized in six states: 
North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, 
Florida, and Texas. 

Dr. Robert Fulton Boyd was born in Giles county, 




DR. K. K. J50YD, 

Professor in Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tenn. 

Tennessee, where he spent his early boyhood days. 
At the age of eight years, he was taken to Nashville 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RAtl. ,"17 

to live with Dr. Paul Eve, a noted surgeon of his clay. 
It was here that he first conceived the idea of making' 
a physician of himself. He attended nij^ht school at 
the old Fisk School, and learned to spell and to :ead 
from McGuffey's First Reader; from i86S to 1.S70 he 
worked on a farm, then returned to Nashville to learn 
the brick trade. He had not yet learned to write, and 
was anxious for an education, and in 1872 hired himself 
to Gen. James Hickman to work half a day and go to 
school the other half. He earned enough for clothing 
by teaching old colored people their letters, so that 
they might read the Bible. In 1875 he began teaching 
school and rapidly rose in that profession. He became 
principal of the Pulaski schools, and was employed by 
the State Superintendent to hold state institutes for 
colored teachers in middle Tennessee. In 1880 he 
entered Meharry Medical College, and graduated in 
1882. In the same year he was appointed adjunct pro- 
fessor of chemistry in Meharry Medical College, and 
at the same time entered the college department of 
Central Tennessee College, graduating in 1886. He 
then entered the dental department of Meharry Medi- 
cal College, and graduated in 1887. He paid his ex- 
penses all this time by teaching in the various depart- 
ments of the Central Tennessee College. In 1887 he 
entered the practice of his profession in Nashville, 
where he has since done a work second in importance 
and magnitude to no other physician. 

Mr. Boyd is a hard worker, and uses all his powers 
to elevate and educate his race. He is a typical ex- 
ample of what young men can do in spite of the 
greatest opposition. He has built for himself a 
practice that is an honor to any man. His office, in- 
struments, horses and buggies compare favorably with 



548 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

those of any other physician. He has instituted a 
society for the study of sociology and ethics among 
colored people. In this respect alone he has done 
much for the betterment of the colored people in Nash- 
ville. In 1890 he took a post-gradnate course, and in 
1892 he took a second post-graduate course in a Chicago 
medical college. He is at present a member of the 
faculty of Meharry Medical College, being professor 
of gynecology and clinical medicine. He owns the 
valuable property, 417 and 419 Cedar street, Nashville, 
worth $20,000. It is a building used for offices, and 
contains forty rooms. He was once nominated candi- 
date for mayor of Nashville, and the legislature of 
Tennessee. Connected with his office is an infirmary 
for the care of the sick and surgical cases. Trained 
nurses are always on hand. He gives two hours three 
times a week to the sick and indigent poor during the 
college year. Many now attend his free clinic and are 
helped. Dr. Boyd is a polite and affable gentleman, 
respected both by whites and blacks, and an honor to 
the race which he so ably represents. He is president 
of the American Medical Association of Colored Phy- 
sicians and Surgeons, and in every respect leads his 
race in everything that is elevating and ennobling. 
His friends are urging him for surgeon-in-chief of the 
Freedman's Hospital at Washington, D. C. He is 
well endorsed, and has numerous letters of recom- 
mendation and petitions to President McKinley to 
appoint him. While the people of Nashville are glad 
to see Dr. Boyd honored and haye his ambitions 
and aspirations gratified, they do not want him to 
leave them. 

Daniel H. Williams, Chicago, 111. , son of Daniel and 
Sarah (Price) Williams, grandson of Daniel Williams, 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 549 

was born January i8, 1858, at Hollidaysbur^, Pa. 
He attended the Janesville, Wis., high school, and was 
graduated from the Janesville Classical Academy in 
1878. Commenced the study of medicine at Janesville in 
1880, under Surgeon-General Henry Palmer; attended 
three courses of lectures at Chicago Medical College, 
from which he was graduated March 28, 1SS3, his 
education having been obtained through his own exer- 
tions, his parents being unable to render financial 
assistance. In May, 1883, he located permanently in 
the practice of medicine in Chicago. 

Dr. Williams- is a member of the American Medical 
Association, Illinois State Medical Society, Chicago 
Medical Society, and Ninth International Medical Con- 
gress. He was surgeon to South Side Dispensary, 
Chicago, i884-'92; Surgeon to Provident Hospital, 
i89o-'93; physician to Protestant Orphan Asylum. 
i884-'93; member of Illinois State Board of Health, 
1889; reappointed, 1891. He is also a member of the 
Hamilton Club, of Chicago. Was appointed surgeon 
in charge of the Freedmen's Hospital, Washington, 
D. C, February 15, 1894. 

Dr. Williams stands at the head of the list of the 
great surgeons of our country. He came into promi- 
nence when a very young man a few years ago by per- 
forming one of the most difficult of surgical operations 
on the heart and pericardium, which properly consisted 
in operating upon and saving the life of a man who 
had been stabbed in the heart. Since his advent to 
Freedmen's Hospital he has continued to perform very 
difficult operations, and has directed more attention to 
Freedmen's and the work being done there than many 
institutions of the kind in the country. He recently 
performed an operation which is regarded by the med- 



550 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



ical profession as not only one of the rarest, but also 
one of the most hazardous — the Csesarian section. The 
race has reason to be proud of him for the great service 
he is rendering it. 




J. W. E. BOWEN, D. D., PH. D. 

Professor of Historical Theology in Gammon Theological 

Seminary. 

J. W. E. Bowen, D. D., Ph. D.— Doctor Bowen was 
born in New Orleans in 1855. His father, Edward 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 551 

Bowen, was a free man, his mother a slave. At the a^^e 
of five the boy and his mother were bou^rht out of slav- 
ery by the father. At the age of seventeen young 
Bowen entered the New Orleans University, a school 
established by the Methodist Episcopal churcli :it the 
close of the Rebellion. 

Soon after his graduation from the university. Doctor 
Bowen became professor of Latin and Greek in the 
Central Tennessee College at Nashville, Tennessee. 

In 1882, having resigned his professorship, he en- 
tered Boston University, where he studied for ff^r 
years. In 1887 this University conferred upon him 
the degree of Ph.D. In 1892 he received the degree 
of D. D. from Gammon Theological Seminary. 

After graduating from Boston University he entered 
the New England conference of the Methodist Ejiis- 
copal church. 

His pastorates included leading churches in Boston, 
Newark, Baltimore, and Washington, and covered a 
period of eleven years. While pastor of the cluircli in 
Washington, he pursued the study of the Semitic lan- 
guages. 

Doctor Bowen's next promotion was his election as 
professor of Historical Theology in Gammon Theo- 
logical Seminary at Atlanta, Georgia, which position 
he holds at this writing. 

At the general conference of his church, held at 
Chicago in May, 1900, he came within a few votes of 
being elected one of the bishops of that great church. 

Amid all the cares of the pastorate and teacher he 
found time to do much writing. Some of his works 
are: "Plain Talks to the Colored People of America," 



552 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

"Appeal to the King," "The Comparative Status of 
the Negro at the Close of the War and To-day," 
"The Struggle for Supremacy between Church and 
State in the Middle Ages," "The American and the 
African Negro," "University Addresses," and "Dis- 
cussions in Philosophy and Theology." 

David Lee Johnstone enrolled as a student at the 
State Normal School at Tuskegee, September 14, 1885, 
completing the course in 1889. His vacations were 
spent at Pratt City, Alabama, working there as a 
miner to earn money enough to return to school in the 
fall and to support an invalid father. 

After completing his course he returned to Pratt 
City, and found employment as a teacher in the public 
schools, which position he held for four years. Having 
a desire to complete a course in pharmacy and not 
being able to accumulate a sufficient amount at teach- 
ing, he resigned and accepted a contract in the mines 
at Milldale, Alabama. This employment, although 
very hard, was more lucrative, and the ist of Septem- 
ber, 1894, he entered the pharmaceutical department 
of Meharry Medical College, Nashville. During 
vacation he continued w^orking in the mines. At 
graduation he was elected by the members of his class 
to represent them in the commencement exercises. 
He soon found employment with the Peoples' Drug 
Company, of Birmingham, Alabama. 

In April, 1896, he opened the Union Drug Store, at 
Birmingham, Alabama, and continued in it until 
December of that year, when it was swept out by fire. 
His purpose, however, was not to be defeated by losses, 
and in April, 1897, he again opened the doors of the 
Union Drug Company, and is doing a prosperous bus- 
iness. 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO- AMERICAN RACE. 



^'3 



10 



Dr. W. A. Hadley was born of slave parents in 1850. 
He attended Fisk University, and was one of the first 
normal teachers sent out from that institution. In 
1878 he entered Meharry Medical Collcj:(c, from which 
he graduated in 1880. After practicing medicine four 
years, he returned to teaching, and is at present prin- 
cipal of one of the Nashville schools. His house is 
modem in every respect, and is a perfect, ideal home. 
One remarkable feature in Dr. Hadley 's home is a col- 
lection of pictures, all of which were painted by his 
daughter, who is the principal of music in the Tuskegee 
Normal School, and enjoys the distinction of being 
the first graduate in music from Fisk University. Dr. 
Hadley's real estate and other property are valued at 
$14,000, 

B. E. Scruggs, M. D., was born of Christian parents 

in Huntsvillc, A 1 




a- 



bama. He received his 
education at Central 
Alabama College and 
Central Tennessee Col- 
lege, at Nashville. He 
graduated from Me- 
harry ^Icdical College 
in 1897, and in July of 
the same year he passed 
the state medical exam- 
ination, standing high- 
est of any of those who 
were examined at that 
time. He has had a 
B. E. SCRUGGS. M: D., succcssful practice ever 

Huntsville, Alabama. since. In 1892 he was 

elected alderman of the city of Huntsville, and re- 



554 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

elected in 1897 by the largest vote of any aspirant. 
He is the first Afro-American of Alabama to graduate 
from a school of medicine. Dr. Scruggs was married 
to Miss Sophia J. Davidson in 1881. He owns some 
property, and is in good circumstances. 

Dr. Ferdinand A. Stewart was born in Mobile, Ala- 
bama, in 1862. He completed the classical course in 
Fisk University in 1885, and three years later grad- 
uated in the medical department of Harvard University 
with the first honors of his class of over one hundred, 
all of whom were white excepting himself. Since 
1888 he has been practicing medicine in Nashville, and 
has succeeded admirably, both professionally and 
financially. He has no other ambition than to serve 
his people in his professional capacity. 

Dr. Henry Fitzbutler, of Louisville, was born Decem- 
ber 22, 1842. He graduated in the Michigan University 
in 1872. He was granted a charter by the legislature 
of Kentucky in 1888 to practice medicine, having 
graduated at the Louisville National Medical College. 
He was the first regular physician of the Negro race 
to enter upon the practice of medicine in the state of 
Kentucky. 

T. T. Wendell.— The subject of this sketch, Mr. T. 
T. Wendell, was born July 24, 187 1, at Nashville, Ten- 
nessee. At an early age he evinced great aptitude for 
study, and very often led his classes in the public 
schools of his native city. After completing the pre- 
scribed course in the city schools, and possessing a 
strong desire to become proficient in medicine, he 
entered Meharry College, where he pursued his studies 
with diligence and vigor, graduating from the phar- 
maceutical department in the class of 1894, with marked 
distinction, being the valedictorian of the largest class 
graduating from that famous institution. 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. •"'■ 



oo>> 



Mr. Wendell, now realizing that it was time f.^r liim 
to repay his widowed mother for the care and many 
sacrifices she made for his advancement, secured a 
position at Henderson, Kentucky, as mana^^er of The 
Citizens' Drug- Company, which position he held until 
a more remunerative one was offered by Dr. \V, J I. 
Ballard at Lexington. He is now filling this position 
to the satisfaction of his employer and his many 
friends, who are numerous, which is testified to by the 
fact that although in the Leader (a daily paper) contest 
for the most popular clerk in the city, he was opposed 
by ten others, all white, yet when the votes were 
counted Mr. Wendell had over five hundred votes 
more than his next highest competitor. 

F. B. Coffin, Ph. G., Pharmacist and Poet. I- . \\ 
Coffin was born in 1869, in Holly Springs, Mississipjii. 
His father being poor and having a large family, l'>ank 
had very meagre educational advantages. At the age 
of ten, he lost his best earthly friend, his mother. His 
older brothers and sisters scattered over the South as 
teachers, and morally and intellectually he was left to 
his own guidance. He was raised in the sturdy mold 
of tireless industry. Against his will, but to plca-t- 
his father, he stayed on the farm until seventeen years 
of age, receiving three months' schooling annually. 
He read all kinds of literature that came to his hand, 
good and bad, but through the influence of his brothers, 
he cast away the trashy novel and more than ever 
desired an education. His elder brothers having left 
home, he was his father's only stay, and the remark 
was often made, "What would I do without Frank." 
Through correspondece with his brothers, the desire to 
attend school was constantly increasing, and in 1886, 
by the aid and consent of his father and brothers, he 



556 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

entered Fisk University, where both his brothers had 
graduated. He spent his vacations on the farm, and 
in 1889, with his father's consent, he remained in 
Nashville, where he was able to earn more money. At 
the beginning of his senior year, he was called home by 
the sickness of his father. This was a severe trial to 
him, as he was thus cut off from his classmates, and 
not permitted to graduate with them. In writing to 
one of his classmates, he says: "If misfortune pre- 
vents my graduating with you you will hear from me 
somewhere, for Fisk has kindled a fire of determina- 
tion and it cannot be extinguished. ' ' After his 
father's death, he taught school for a time, but was 
disgusted with it through the fact that in gaining and 
holding a position merit was drowned by political wire- 
pulling. In 1 89 1 he entered Meharry Medical College 
and graduated in 1893. He is now conducting a drug 
store at Little Rock, Arkansas, and is thoroughly 
awake to the necessity of competing if he would excel. 
He takes as his motto, "No step backward," and is 
working with all the energy of his soul to range among 
the successful ones of our closing century. Mr. Coffm 
has just published a volume of poems of about two 
hundred pages, forty of which relate to the crime of 
lynching. He is preparing another book of poems, 
which he hopes to publish in the near future. He is a 
lover of children, and is actively engaged in Christian 
work. He stands fearlessly for right, without regard 
to what the effect may be upon his business. 

Dr. Sarah Helen Fitzbutler graduated in medicine 
and surgery in the Louisville National Medical College 
with the class of 1892. Doctor Butler is the first 
woman to receive the regular degree to practice medi- 
cine in Kentucky. 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 557 

The Louisville National Medical College is doing 
much, by its thorough work, to disarm the public mind 
of race prejudice. The race may justly feel proud of 
what its representatives are achieving. Its attain- 
ments are worthy of schools that boast of much 
higher standing. 

■J. B. Banks, M. D., taught school for a short time, 




DR. J. B. BANKS, NATCHEZ, MISSISSIPPI. 

then entered Leland University, New Orleans, in 1877, 
working evenings and mornings for his board and 



558 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

lodging. The yellow fever compelled him to leave. 
He then went to the country where he obtained a 
private school of ten or fifteen pupils. After paying 
his board of $5 a month, he had one dollar left for his 
work. He afterward succeeded in finding better pay- 
ing employment and managed, besides supporting his 
aged grandparents through the next winter, to save 
$30. He then taught for a number of years, and 
entered Meharry Medical College in 1885. After 
graduating he at once returned to Mississippi, and 
passed his examination before the State Medical 
Board. He, with seven white applicants, was success- 
ful, while the same number of whites were unsuccess- 
ful. He at once began practicing medicine, and in 
1889 moved to Natchez, Mississippi, where he has a 
fair practice. In 1890 he was appointed a member of 
the Board of Surgeons of the United States at Natchez. 
Doctor Banks enjoys the esteem of his own race and 
of the white citizens of Natchez and the surrounding 
country. He owns a comfortable home, valued at 
^3,000; is married and has two children. He is a 
prominent member and officer of the African M. E. 
Church of Natchez. 

Thomas A. Curtis was born in Alabama. His 
parents were slaves, but by earnest effort his father 
educated himself and became state senator from Ala- 
bama. The son, after graduating from the State 
Normal School, taught for some years in Texas, and 
then entered Meharry Dental School, from which he 
graduated in 1889. His success as the first colored 
dentist of Alabama is assured. During the first year 
he earned more than $2,000. With such an energetic 
spirit as he possesses it is needless to say that he has 
each year improved in proficiency in his profession 
and in the increase of his practice. 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 5r>Sa 

Prof. Geo. W. Carver is director of the a-ricultural 
department of the famous industrial school at Tuskc- 
gee, Alabama. He is a graduate of the State Agricul- 
tural College at Ames, Iowa, from which he received 
his Master's degree. 




PROF. GEO. W. CARVER, M. AG. 



From childhood he seems to have had a passion for 
music, painting, flowers, stones, minerals, and like 
objects of beauty and interest. The study of the char- 



37 Progress 



558b PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

acter and productive ability of soils seem to have 
been in him an instinct. As a boy he was known 
as the '* Plant Doctor." 

His painting, the "Yucca and Cactus," was exhibited 
at the World's Fair in Chicago. 

It is, perhaps, safe to say that he has the largest 
private collection of botanical and geological speci- 
mens in the state of Alabama. 

But in order to reach his present position of ability 
and usefulness he had a long and weary road to travel. 
He was born a slave in Missouri during the period of 
the Civil war. Prof. Carver expresses the deepest 
gratitude to Mr. and Mrs. Carver to whom his mother 
belonged until set free by the war. For some years 
his foster-parents (Mr. and Mrs. Carver) cared for 
him, and during this time he acquired the rudiments 
of an education. 

When ten years of age he began his wanderings 
through Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa, in his struggles 
for intellectual and bodily food. He had to meet not 
only the difficulties of an ordinary poor boy in his 
efforts to gain a position in the world, but he must 
overcome natural race-prejudice among his white as- 
sociates. But he has won an exalted position worthy 
the best minds. 

While working his way at school Carver exhibited a 
remarkably versatile mind. At one time he was a suc- 
cessful laundryman, at another a skilled cook, and 
again an ingenious milliner. He also knit his own 
mittens and stockings. He shows, with commendable 
pride, three hundred samples of knitting, crocheting, 
and embroidering. 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 



550 



AUTHORS AND LITERARY WORKERS. 

Paul Laurence Dunbar. — The first poet of his race 
in the English language was Paul Laurence Dunbar. 




PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR, 

The Famous Colored Poet 



whose parents were full blood Negroes. His father 
escaped from slavery in Kentucky to freedom m Can- 
ada, and at a time when there was no hope of freedom 



560 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

otherwise. His mother was liberated by the Emanci- 
pation Proclamation, and came North to Ohio. Paul 
was born at Dayton, Ohio, and grew up with such 
opportunities for mental training as befalls the chil- 
dren of the poor. His father was a plasterer, and 
after learning to read, he loved chiefly to read history. 
His mother had a passion for literature, with a special 
delight for poetry. 

After his father died, mother and son struggled on 
in still deeper poverty. His writings attracted many, 
and it was not long before his friends recognized that 
in him was found the first instance of an American 
Negro who had evinced an innate distinction in litera- 
ture, although many of his race had proven themselves 
proficient in music, oratory, and some of the other 
arts. It is said that Paul Dunbar was the only man 
of pure African blood and of American civilization to 
feel the Negro life aesthetically and to express it lyrical- 
ly. While all of his poems are beautiful in sentiment, 
yet those pieces where he studied the modes and traits 
of his race we find the most charming. His refined and 
delicate art is shown most clearly where he describes 
the range between appetite and emotion. He reveals 
in these an ironical perception of the Negro's limita- 
tion with a tenderness that is quite new. 

If Mr. Dunbar does nothing more than he has done, 
he may rightfully be said to have made the strongest 
claim for the Negro in English literature that the 
Negro has ever made. Although we may not agree in 
all he says, we can hardly refuse to enjoy it. 

Well may it be said of many of his productions that 
they are works of art. Let us notice a few of the 
many beautiful and practical sentiments expressed. 
The following is from ''Accountability" : 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. 5G1 

"But we all "fits into places dat no othah ones could lill,^ 
And we does the things we has to, big er little, poor or ill. 
John cain't take the place o' Henry, Su an" Sally ain't alike; 
Bass aint nuthin' like a sucker, shad ain't nuthin' like a pike. 

When you come to think about it, how it's all planned out, it's 

splendid. 
Nuthin's done ere evah has been 'dout hit's somefin' dat's inlciidcU ; 
Don't keer what you does, you has to, an' hit sholy beats dc 

dickens. 
Viney, go put on de kettle, I got one o' mastah's chickcni^." 

Then again, notice the sentiment expressed in the 
following stanza on the grand old man, Frederick 
Douglass, in all respects the representative of his 
race: 

"Through good and ill report, he cleaved his way right, with his 

face set towards the heights, 
Nor feared to face the foeman's dread array — 
The lash of scorn, the sting of petty spites. 
He dared the lightning in the lightning's track. 
And answered thunder with his thunder back." 

What poet has more graphically and in fewer words 
expressed the realities of life than ^Ir. Dunbar in the 
following stanza: 

"A crust of bread and a corner to sleep in, 
A minute to smile, and an hour to weep in ; 
A pint of joy to a peck of trouble, 
And never a laugh but the moans come double ; 
And that is life!" 

"Rising of the Storm" is beautifully expressed, 
while "An Ante-bellum Sermon" gives us an insight 
into the real life of the Negro of those days. The 
"Banjo Song" carries back many a gray-haired f reed- 
man to the time when the banjo, taken from the wall, 
brought cheer and comfort to the weary slave 

Who has more really pictured the lawyers ways 



562 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

than he when he describes the effort of the contending 
sides to paint either in blackest crime the condition of 
the persons on one hand, and to gild with virtuous 
graces the fair name as seen from the other side? 
Pertinently does he ask : 

"How an angel an' a devil 
Can persess the self-same soul!" 

Our sympathies are aroused in "Deacon Jones' 
Grievance, ' ' when he so pathetically pleads with the 
parson to modify the "hifaluting style" of modern 
song in the churches, and the objection to being made 
an object of ridicule, when a solo was being sung and 
he struck in to help the poor fellow out, and the whole 
church scowled at him. "The Spelling Bee" brings 
to mind the days of yore so vividly that we wish we 
were there. "Keep Pluggin' Away," although a 
quaint motto, carries with it many a noble and worthy 
truth. 

All the gallant sons of Ham that have fought for 
freedom are anew fired with the spirit of patriotism 
and loyalty to Uncle Sam in reading "The Colored 
Soldiers," in which the bravery of the Negro at Fort 
Wagner and Fort Pillow are so graphically set forth. 
Well does it close with this stanza: 

"So all honor and all glory to these noble sons of Ham, 
The gallant colored soldiers who fought for Uncle Sam. ' ' 

A sigh escapes many a longing heart as we read the 
"or Tunes," as the new-fashioned anthems prevent 
the 'joining of the uncultured and untrained voices. 
Every Negro rejoices in freedom, and yet what ex-slave 
who was blessed with a humane and kind master does 
not sigh when he reads "The Deserted Plantation, " 
which brings to the mind the days of long ago? 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO- AMERICAN' RACE. 503 

We have space for but one more selection from this 
gifted author of the colored race : 

MORTALITY. 

"Ashes to ashes ! dust to dust ! 
What of his loving? What of his lust? 
What of his passion? What of his pain? 
What of his poverty? What his pride? 
Earth, the great mother, has called him again; 
Deeply he sleeps, the world's verdict defied. 
Shall he be tried agam? Shall he go free? 
Who shall the court convene? Where shall it be? 
No answer on the land, none from the sea ! 
Only we know that as he died, we must — 
You with your theory, you with your trust- 
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust!" 

A London correspondent says: "Paul Dunbar, the 
American Negro Poet, has captured London. lie has 
been received with marked attention by good society, 
and he is in big demand in the most fashionable draw- 
ing-rooms. No color line is drawn in England, and 
the talented American is much sought after. lie 
reads his verses at receptions, garden parties and other 
entertainments, and he has received the most favora- 
ble criticisms from the press. Mr. Dunbar came to 
London well recommended by W. D. Ilowells and 
other American literary lights well known to the 
British public. His humble origin and the story of 
his self-culture, struggles and final triumph have won 
him a peculiar regard here, where the Negro slave and 
the prejudices against him and his descendants have 
never existed. Mr. Dunbar expects to spend several 
months in London, and he will have no lack of occu- 
pation, judging by his early successes. Hi^ mission 
promises to be all that he hopes it to be." 

Frances E. W. Harper.— We have already noticed 



564 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Mrs. Harper as one of the forerunners of liberty. It 
is, however, due Mrs. Harper that we also mention 
her as an author, for, since the emancipation she has 
written a number of works besides spending much of 
the time in the lecture field. Some of her writings are 
the following : ' ' Moses, a story of the Nile ; " " Sketches 
of Southern Life, ' ' in which she portrays the life of 
the Negro; "Shalmanezer. " Her book of poems con- 
tains some excellent and practical thoughts. "The 
Dying Bondman" is so touching that we reproduce it 
here: 

THE DYING BONDMAN. 

Life was trembling, faintly trembling, 

On the bondman's latest breath, 
And he felt the chilling pressure 

Of the cold, hard hand of Death. 

He had been an Afric chieftain, 

Worn his manhood as a crown ; 
But upon the field of battle 

Had been fiercely stricken down. 

He had longed to gain his freedom. 
Waited, watched and hoped in vain, 

Till his life was slowly ebbing — 
Almost broken was his chain. 

By his bedside stood the master. 

Gazing on the dying one. 
Knowing by the dull-grey shadows 

That life's sands were almost run. 

"Master," said the dying bondman, 
"Home and friends I soon shall see; 

But before I reach my country, 
Master, write that I am free. 

"For the spirits of my fathers 
Would shrink back from me in pride, 

If I told them at our greeting 
I a slave had lived and died. 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO- AMLKICAN RACE. 505 

"Give to me the precious token, 

That my kindred dead may see- 
Master! write it, write it quickly! 

Master! write that I am free!" 

At his earnest plea the master 

Wrote for him the glad release, 
O'er his wan and wasted features 

Flitted one sweet smile of peace. 

Eagerly he grasped the writing; 

"I am free at last!" he said. 
Backward fell upon the pillow. 

He was free among the dead. 

Among other interesting poems arc found, " Savin i,' 
the Boys;" "Nothing and Something;" "My Mother's 
Kiss;" "Home, Sweet Home. " Probably the volume 
which has received the most favorable reception is her 
"lola Leroy, " presenting a vivid view of scenes at 
the South before, during and after the war. It is 
written in a vigorous and graphic manner, and is effec- 
tive in appealing to the finer sensibilities of the Amer- 
ican public and, at the same time, addresses itself to 
those logical sequences of mind that follow out of that 
fundamental principle of Christianity, the fatherhood 
of God and the brotherhood of man. 

Mrs. Harper introduces into her work many thrilling 
war scenes and succeeds in making her romance one 
of the most interesting. It pleads the cause of the 
race whose destinies were never more closely involved 
with those of the nation than at the present time. 
Mrs. Harper is one of the ablest writers among the 
women of the colored race. 

Phillis Wheatley.— This girl was brought on a slave 
ship from Africa to Boston in 1761, and bought by 
Mrs. John Wheatley, an intelligent and cultured lady. 
When bought her clothing consisted of a piece of dirty 



566 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

carpet around her loins. Mrs. Wheatley was impress- 
ed by her intelligent countenance, and selected her 
from a large number of slaves. Through kind treat- 
ment and encouragement she learned easily, and devel- 
oped a talent for poetry. She wrote a book of poems 
of about forty pieces, and the literary merit of these 
poems disposed some to question their origin. At one 
time she addressed a poem to George Washington, 
and received a kind and courteous reply. 

Mrs. Mary R. Phelps. — In Union county, South Car- 
olina, on the first day of May, 1867, was born to 
Adeline and Hilliard Rice the subject of this sketch. 
Many names of the rising young women of her race 
have, doubtless, received more public eulogy, but few 
names deserve a more worthy mention than that of 
Mrs. Mary R. Phelps. There were many qualities 
noticeable about her when quite young, all significant 
of her future usefulness. But the one especially inter- 
esting to her parents and friends was the voluntary 
devotion to books and other reading matter. Her 
perusing picture books, papers, etc., awakened an 
interest in her to enquire about the words which often 
accompanied such pictures. In this way she learned 
to read simple readings by the time she was four years 
old. At the age of five years she entered the public 
schools of Union county, the annual terms of which 
were of but two or three months' duration. So remark- 
able was her progress as a student and scholar under ad- 
verse circumstances, that at the age of thirteen she ac- 
cepted, with consent of her parents, the charge of a large 
school in a rural district of Spartanburg county. South 
Carolina, was examined, received a certificate of qualifi- 
cation, and taught the term with such remarkable credit 
as to win the approval of both her patrons and trustees. 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. iA'J 

Her parents, being thus encouraged, determined with 
renewed efforts to have her educated, notwithstanding,' 
their limited advantages. They sent her to I^cncdict 
Institute (now Benedict College), Cohimbia, South 
Carolina, and afterward to Scotia Seminary, at Con- 
cord, North Carolina, from which institution she grad- 
uated. Since completing her course in school, she has 
contributed to various journals, etc., and has been 
offered a liberal salary for her services. But, in con- 
sideration of the need of well-prepared educators 
among the race, that it may become what it can be, 
she chose to use her talent in assisting that grand 
purpose. Aside from her accomplishment in the 
literary line, Mrs. Phelps has acquired a practical 
knowledge in the arts of music, painting, dressmaking, 
etc., to any of which she can creditably apply herself. 
Her career as a teacher has been one of usefulness and 
success. She spent each vacation of her school life in 
teaching, which experience greatly increased her devo- 
tion to that work. Hence, when she was no longer a 
school girl she entered into the teachers* field as a pro- 
fession. She was principal of a public school at (^Icnn 
Springs, South Carolina, for three years. In 1890 she 
resigned that school to accept a position in the graded 
school at Rome, Georgia, where she taught for some 
time. She then taught in Milledgevillc, after which she 
was married to Mr. J. L. Phelps in 1891. The demand 
for well trained teachers was so great that in 189.^ she 
again consented to act as assistant principal in Cleve- 
land Academy, Helena, South Carolina, and more 
recently has held a position in Haines Institute, 
Augusta, Georgia. Mrs. Phelps is an earnest Sabbath 
school worker, and her labors for God and the church 
have been greatly blessed. 



568 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Mrs. Fanny Barrier Williams came into prominence 
during the World's Columbian Exposition. Her ad- 
dress at the Woman's Congress on the "Intellectual 
Progress of the Colored Woman" created a profound 
impression. Since the close of the Exposition, Mrs. 
Williams has received invitations from all parts of the 
country to deliver addresses. She was born in Brock- 
port, New York, and received a collegiate education. 
Her complexion is a clear, light brown, and her voice 
is singularly soft and sympathetic in tone. She is a 
woman of more than usual intelligence, and as a lecturer 
is in great demand. Her most popular lectures are : 
' ' What Will You Do with Our Women ; " " Christianity 
and the American Negro;" "Prudence Crandall, or, a 
Modern Canterbury Tale ; " " Opportunities of Western 
Women;" "The Opportunities and Responsibilities of 
American Colored Women. ' ' 

Mrs. M. A. McCurdy was born in Carthage, Indiana, 
in 1852. She acquired the rudiments of an education 
in the mixed schools of that place, but, being deprived 
of attending any other school by the death of her 
father, she labored diligently, and before she was nine- 
teen years of age had prepared herself for teaching, 
and secured a school near her home. After teaching 
for some time, she was married to J. A. Mason, and for 
more than eight years filled with profit and precision 
the worthy position of wife and mother. The hand of 
death removed from her four precious jewels and her 
husband, leaving her alone to battle life's conflicts. 
She then entered the temperance work, and became a 
noted worker in Richmond, Indiana. For a time she 
edited a temperance paper in that city. A desire to 
go South and labor among her people seemed to im- 
press itself more and more upon her mind until 1886, 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACK. 5G'J 

when she was led to Atlanta, where snc became editor 
of the Southern Recorder. Here, besides her work in 
temperance and as editor, she built up a fine mission 
during her four years' stay, St. James' M. !•:. Church, 
of that city. In 1890 she was married to Rev. C. 
McCurdy, of Rome, Georgia. Ilcr labors in Rome 
since that time have been varied and greatly appre- 
ciated by the people. She is engaged in industrial 
work among the women of her race; is correspond:- 
secretary for the W. C. T. U. for the state of Georgia; 
president of the missionary work in the Presbyterian 
Church, and editor of The Woman s ll'orh/, a paper 
devoted to the intellectual, moral and spiritual prog- 
ress of the people. In all these departments of work 
she has made herself known and felt not only in the 
city of Rome, but throughout the state. Iler work 
will outlive empires and the stars. 

Mrs. Ida B. Wells Barnett.— The subject of this 
sketch became noted for her crusades against the 
lynching evil. Shocked by the awful barbarity of 
that species of outlawry, brought home to her by the 
lynching of three highly respectable colored men of 
Memphis, because of a neighborhood quarrel, M 
Wells started out to call the attention of the American 
people to the dangerous growth of this evil. Denied a 
hearing in America she went to England and there 
from pulpit, platform and in the public press her 
appeal was effectively made. In 1895 she married 
Ferdinand L. Barnett, Jr. , of the Chicago bar. 

Edward E. Cooper.— Among the strange happcnr- 
in Washington is to see many new men, unknown 
quantities in the politics and history of our p 
pushing themselves to the front, clamorously c 
upon the President to give them an office for their 



570 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



great services to the party m power. On the other hand, 
you see the real leaders, men of thought and action, 
quietly and modestly moving on in the even tenor of 
their way, working out their own destinies and the des- 
tinies of the people, asking no political favors. To one 
of these latter men we wish to refer, a quiet, modest, 
resolute man, who, by his indefatigable will and tenacity 

of purpose, is making a 
name which will be 
honored when many of 
our so-called great men 
will be forgotten, E. E. 
Cooper, editor and man- 
ager of the Colored Am- 
erican. M-^. Cooper was 
born in Tennessee about 
thirty-five years ago. 
He early went to India- 
napolis, where he was 
educated. After gradu- 
ation he entered upon his 
journalistic career, which 
has been a unique one. 
He established i'n India- 
napolis the first colored 
illustrated paper pub- 
lished in the United States, The Freeman^ a new order 
in colored journalism. Everybody knows of its phe- 
nomenal success. After seeing The Freeinan estab- 
lished on a firm financial basis, Mr. Cooper sold his 
interest and turned his travels toward the National 
Capitol, where he founded the Colored Aineincaii^ a 
paper which has lifted colored journalism in the Capi- 
tol to a plane it never reached before. Here his best; 




E. E. COOPER, 

Editor "Colored American," 
Washington, D. C. 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMEKICAN RACE. 571 

work is being done; bravely docs he champion the 
Negro's cause. His influence is widespread, it is 
national. His acquaintanceship with political leaders 
has given him an influence not possessed by any other 
young man of his race. His success with the A?ncriain 
has been gratifying, some weeks during the last cam- 
paign it having reached a circulation of 100,000 
copies. 

Henry 0. Tanner. — Henry O. Tanner, son of Bishop 
Benjamin Tucker Tanner, of the African Methodist 
Episcopal Church, was born and reared in the city of 
Philadelphia. As a boy he enjoyed the privileges of 
the city schools. Early in life the natural bent of his 
genius began to manifest itself. Consequently, he 
entered the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and 
became a pupil of Professor Eakins. Under this 
efficient and faithful instructor, ^Ir. Tanner secured 
that foundation upon which he has since so magnifi- 
cently built. 

Like many others, however, jMr. Tanner has had to 
struggle with the gaunt wolf, poverty. Shortly after 
leaving the academy he, among other ventures, started 
a photograph gallery in Atlanta, Georgia. This was 
not a success. He then spent a year at Clark Univer- 
sity, where he taught freehand drawing and gave 
instruction in painting to private classes, colored and 
white, at the institution and in the city. One summer 
vacation he spent at Highlands, North Carolina,^ a 
health resort, where he also instructed classes of white 
people, some of them Southern. 

For a long time it was the topmost desire of Mr. 
Tanner's heart to go to Paris, and study under the 
great masters of art in that brilliant metropolis. It 
was by the severest economy, together with assistance 



572 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

from friends, that he was enabled to gratify his desire. 
Nor was he altogether relieved from embarrassment 
after reaching Paris, for, within a short time after his 
arrival, he fell sick, and lay in the hospital for two 
months with typhoid fever. On his recovery he again 
resumed with a hopeful heart, but under discouraging 
circumstances, the pursuit of his studies. For two 
years he was a pupil of Benjamin Constant. "Becom- 
ing stranded again, " as he quaintly states it, he return- 
ed to America for about eighteen months. Within 
this time he sold several pictures. Of these "The 
Banjo Lesson," his first picture exhibited at the Salon, 
was sold to Mr. Robert C. Ogden, a tried friend and 
patron of Mr. Tanner, and to whom, as Mr. Tanner 
acknowledges, he "is much indebted for whatever 
of success he has had." Another picture, entitled, 
"Thankful Poor," he sold to Mr. John T. Morris. 
Here, too, it may be said that at the Columbian Expo- 
sition were exhibited one hundred pictures from 
American art students, at home and abroad. Of this 
hundred was one of Mr. Tanner's, "The First Lesson 
on the Bagpipe, ' ' painted from a scene in Brittany. 
At the close of the exposition a committee of art critics 
was appointed to select from the hundred the forty 
best, and catalogue them, inserting cuts of each. Mr. 
Tanner's picture was one of the forty. This picture 
was afterwards exhibited at the "Cotton States and 
International Exposition," Atlanta, Georgia, and at- 
tracted the attention of many. 

With moneys realized from his sales while in America 
he returned to Paris in 1894, and resumed his studies 
under Jean Paul Laurens and Benjamin Constant. His 
first picture to receive any official recognition was the 
one entitled, "Daniel in the Lion's Den" — mention 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN KACE 



o t 






honorable, 1896. Then came the picture of thij year, 
"Lazarus Rising from the Dead," which received 
third medal," and was purchased by the French gov- 
ernment. These, now, are the achievements of a 
young man. What may the race expect of him? 

But, outside his art, much might be said of the man. 
He belongs to that class whom to know is to admire 
and to love. Genial, simple in manner, generous, 
with an intense desire to serve and uplift his race, he 
moves among his fellows with the appearance of a man 
who has found his life-work and is in love with it. To 
such men the people must look for loftiest inspiration 
and safest guidance. 

Mr. Tanner is spending his summer vacation (1S97) 
with his parents at Kansas City, Kansas. He likes 
Paris because of the companionship of artists, and he 
will probably spend the rest of his life-time there ; still, 
he glories in the fact that he is an American citizen, 
and he will retain that title as long as he lives. Dur- 
ing his stay at home he has been painting portraits of 
his parents. When he returns to Paris he will begin 
work on another Biblical painting, "The Annuncia- 
tion," which he hopes will surpass his "Raising of 
Lazarus, ' ' which made him famous as an artist. 

Clark Hampton. — Young Clark Hampton, who.se 
painting of "Napoleon at Waterloo" is receiving such 
widespread attention, is really a genius. Tie is only 
eighteen years old, and the sole support of a widowed 
mother. In his modest studio is to be found a charm- 
ing original sketch, "Waiting in the Wildwood. " The 
boy is ambitious, and, although finding it ditTicult to 
support his mother and to continue his work, he is 
determined to press forward. "If I live, the race 
shall yet be proud of me," says this youth. 

38 Progress 



574 PROGRESS OF A RACi 

* 

Edmonia Lewis probably surpasses every other per- 
son of her race as a sculptor. She is of lowly birth, 
and was left an orphan when quite young, but her 
determination has enabled her to overcome difficulties. 
When visiting Boston the first time, she saw a statue 
of Benjamin Franklin. She was so touched by the 
sight that the latent talent within her broke forth in, 
*'I, too, can make a stone man!" She was introduced 
by William Lloyd Garrison to one of Boston's famous 
sculptors, and as she triumphed in her work she has 
won a position as an artist on two continents. Some 
of the masterpieces of her hands are: ''Hagarinthe 
Wilderness," "Hiawatha's Wooing," busts of Long- 
fellow, John Brown and Wendell Phillips. Her studio 
in Rome has become an object of interest to travelers 
from all countries. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

We have mentioned in these pages a number of col- 
ored men representing the different classes. There 
are many others as able as these who may imagine that 
we have neglected to mention them. This is not a 
biography, but our object in mentioning a number of 
these different classes is to show the progress made 
since freedom. Many colored women might be named. 
It should be remembered that they have had fewer 
privileges of education before the war and since than 
the men of their race, yet there are a number of them 
who have shown themselves capable and useful. 

Hon. H. C. Smith, who has represented one of the 
districts of Ohio in the legislature for a -number of 
years, and is editor and proprietor of the Clevela?id 
Gazette, is one of the young men of whom the race may 
feel proud. It is but fitting to say that his election to 
the Ohio legislature in 1893 has made him even more 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACE. ''- 



oto 



popular than before among the people. He has made 
a record that has amply vindicated the choice and 
judgment of his constituents. 

John Mitchell, Jr., who was born of slave parents, 
has for a number of years been editor of the Richftwnd 
Planety a weekly paper. 

Amanda Smith, born in slavery, has, through jxn-- 
erty and adversity, pushed her way upward until she 
is one of the most spiritual and eloquent cxhorters and 
lecturers of her race in the world. She is a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has traveled 
extensively in America, Europe and Africa. She has 
written her biography, which has a wide sale. She is 
now engaged in raising funds for a home for colored 
orphan children in Chicago. Her visits to the churches 
throughout the North and West are an inspiration and 
a blessing, and she has succeeded in a remarkable 
manner in the work for wdiich she has so long been 
laboring. 

Mrs. Charlotte Fortune Grimke is a native of Penn- 
sylvania. She was educated in Massachusetts, and 
proved to be a student of more than ordinary ability 
and application. Mrs. Grimke has been a contributor 
to the columns of the Atlantic Monthly and other repre- 
sentative magazines of the East. 

Rev. W. A. Lewis, of AVest Tennessee, was com- 
polled to work at home by his stepfather, who thou-^ht 
it a crime for a stepson to attend school. He worked 
hard on the farm in the day, and walked a mile at 
night to take lessons of a white lady, paying a dollar a 
month for instruction. He picked berries and sold 
melons at odd times to pay his tuition. Such qualities 
might worthily be emulated today. 

John William McKinney is a successful U^^^^l■^n 



576 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



Sherman, Texas. He was admitted to the bar in 1891, 
and was elected delegate from the state at large by the 
Union Republican convention in 1892. In 1894 he 
was nominated by the Republicans for Congress. 

Richard T. Greener, one of the most cultured Afro- 
Americans, was for many years dean of the law depart- 
ment of Howard University. 




REV. CYRUS MYERS. 

Rev. Cyrus Myers, of Simpson county, Mississippi, 
who has become prominent in his efforts to have Con- 
gress pass a bill pensioning ex-slaves, is a remarkable 
Negro of the old slave class. Rev. Myers brought 
with him over 6,000 signatures of Mississippi ex-slaves. 
He is seventy-nine years old, and was a slave forty- 
seven years. He is black, tall, eloquent and full of 
reminiscences. He was a novelty at Washington in 
that he is not an office-seeker, but is vrorking for his 
race. 

Charles L. Remond was the first Negro to take the 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN RACK. 



«• I 4 



platform as a regular lecturer in the anti-slavery cause, 
and was the ablest representative that the race had 
till the appearance of Frederick Douglass in 1.S42. 

W. E. King is one of the rising young men of Dallas, 
Texas. Improving the opportunities given him in his 
youth, he has succeeded in making himself useful. lie 
is at present editor of the Wcc/cfy Express, and is yield- 
ing an influence for true worth and progress with his 
race. Among the young men of the state who arc 
devoting their lives to the welfare of the race Mr. 
King stands prominent. 

B.K.Bruce. On the 23d day of May, 18S1, Presi- 
dent Garfield appointed ex-Senator B. K. Bruce, of 
Mississippi, Registrar of the United States Treasury. 
This was the first colored man whose signature made 
money of worthless paper. 

Professor M. A. Hopkins, of Franklintown, North 
Carolina, a colored teacher of marked ability, was ap- 
pointed by President Cleveland, first term, as Minister 
to Liberia. 

Miss L. Vina Givens, of Dallas, Texas, has, by iicr 
natural ability, become prominent in the musical 
world of Texas. Through adverse circumstances she 
has risen, and is today one of the sweetest singers of 
Dallas. 

COLORED AUTHORS AND NAMES OF rUBI.ICATIONS. 

Albert, A. E. P., D. D.— The Negro Evangelist. 

Plantation Melodies. 

Universal Reign of Jesus. 
Alexander, William T.— History of the Colored Race 

in America. 
Alexander, Rev. W. G.— Living Words. 

The Negro in Commerce and Finance. 

The Efficient Sunday School. 



578 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Anderson, Rev. J. Harvey— Directory of the A. M. E. 

Zion Church. 
Arnett, Bishop. — Negro Literature. 

The Centennial Budget. 
Bannecker, Benjamin. — Science. 
Bates, R. C. — Architecture and Building. 
Benjamin, R. C. O., D. D.— Africa, the Hope of the 
Negro. 

Future of the American Negro. 

History of the British West Indies. 

Life of Toussiant L'Ouverture. 

Origin of the Negro Race. 

The Southland. 

The Boy Doctor. 

Don't. 
Blackwell, G. L. — The Model Homestead. 
Blyden, E. W., LL.D.— Christianity, Islam and the 
Negro Race. 

From West Africa to Palestine. 

Liberia's Offering. 
Booth, Rev. C. O.— Plain Theology for Plain People. 
Bowen, J. W. E., D. D.— Plain Talks. 

Africa and the American Negro. 
Brawley, Rev. E. M. — The Negro Baptist Pulpit 
Brown, Rev. R. T.— Doctrines of Christ and the 
Church. 

Pastor's Annual and Financial Report. 
Brown, William Wells. — The Black Man. 

The Negro in the Rebellion. 

The Rising Sun. 
Carter, Rev. E. R.— Our Pulpit Illustrated. 

The Black Side. 

The Holy Land. 
Clark, P. H.— Black Brigade. 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AM I-RICAN RACK. T.?!* 

Coleman, Mrs. L. N. C— Poor Ben. 
Cooper, Mrs. A. J.— A Voice from the South. 
Crogman, W.H., A. M.— Talks for the Times. 
Crummell, Rev. Alex., D. D.— Africa and Amcric;i. 

The Future of Africa. 
Davis, D. W. — Poems. 

Douglass, Frederick. — Life and Times of Frederick 
Douglass. 

My Bondage and My Freedom. 

Narrative of My Experience in Slavery. 
DuBois, W. E. Burghardt, Ph. D. — The Suppression of 
the African Slave Trade to the United States of 
America, 1838- 1870. 
Dunbar, Paul L. — Oak and Ivy. 

Poems. 

Negro Love Song. 
Dyson, J. F., B. D. — Are We Africans or Americans? 

Origin of Color. 

Political X Roads— Which Way? 

Richard Allen's Place in History. 
Earl, Victoria. — Aunt Linda. 

Early, Sarah.— Life and Labors of Rev. J. \V. Early. 
Embry, J. C, D. D.— Digest of Christian Thculoi^y. 

Our Father's House. 
Fortune, T. T.— Black and White. 
Gordon, J. E.— Political Works. 
Gregory, J. M.— Hon. Frederick Douglass. 
Green, Dr. A. R.— History of Independent Meir.. .: 

ism. 
Hagood, Rev. L. M., M. D.— The Colored Man in f 

M. E. Church. 
Harper, Mrs. F. E. W.-Iola Leroy; or, Shadow.. 

Uplifted. 
Forest Leaves. 



580 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Sketches of Southern Life. 

Moses : A Story of the Nile. 

Miscellaneous Poems. 

Shalmanezer. 
Hood, Bishop J. W. , D. D. — Book of Sermons. 

History of the A. M. E. Z. Church. 
Johnson, Mrs. A. E. — Clarence and Corinne. 

The Hazely Family. 
Johnson, E. A. — School History of the Negro Race in 

America. 
Jones, S. T. , D. D. — Book of Sermons. 
Langston, Hon. John M. — Freedom and Citizenship. 

From the Virginia Plantation to the National 
Capitol. 

Lectures and Addresses. 
Majors, M. A. — Noted Negro Women. 
Matthews, Mrs W. E. — Aunt Linda. 
Moore, Bishop J. J.— History of the A. M. E. Church 
Mossell, Mrs. N. F. — The Work of Afro- American 

Women. 
Payne, Bishop Daniel. — Domestic Education. 

History of the A. M. E. Church. • 

Recollections of Seventy Years. 

Official Sermons of the A. M. E. Church. 

The Semi-Centenary of the A. M. E. Church. 
Pegues, Rev. A. W., Ph. D. — Our Baptist Ministers 

and Schools. 
Pendleton, Lewis. — The Sons of Ham. 
Penn, I. Garland. — The Afro- American Press and Its 

Editors. 
Ransom, R. C. — School Days at Wilberforce. 
Rowe, Rev. George C. — Patriotic Poems. 

The Aim of Life. 

Thoughts in Verse. 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO-AMEKICAN HACK. 581 

Rush, Bishop. — Rise and Progress of Zion Church. 
Scarborough, W. S.. A. M., Ph. D., LL. D.— First 
Lessons in Greek. 

Latin Moods and Tenses. 

Questions on Latin Grammar. 
Scruggs, L. A. — Afro-American Women of Distinc- 
tion. 

Grammar Land. 
Simmons, William, D. D. — Men of Mark. 
Smith, Rev. C. S. — Glimpses of Africa. 
Smith, Rev. S. E. — Anti-Separate Coach History of 

Kentucky. 
Smith, W. H. — Earnest Pleas. 
Smith, Amanda. — A Story of My Life. 
Stevenson, Rev. J. W., M. D. — Church Financiering. 
Stewart, T. McCants. — Liberia. 
Still, William.— The Underground Railroad. 

The Kidnapped and Ransomed. 
Straker, D. A. — The New South Investigated. 
Tanner, Benjamin Tucker. — Apology for American 
Methodism. 

Is the Negro Cursed? 

Outline of History. 

The Negro's Origin. 

The Negro (African and American). 

Theological Lectures. 
Taylor, M. W.— Plantation Melodies. 
Trotter, J. M.— Music and Some Highly Musical 

People. 
Troy, Rev. William.— Hairbreadth Escapes from Slav- 
ery to Freedom. 
Turner, Bishop— African Letters. 

Methodist Polity. 

Negro in All Ages. 



582 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



Wayman, Bishop A. W.— Cyclopedia of the A. M. E. 

Church. 
Wheatley, Phillis. — Memoirs of Poems. 
Wheeler, B. F., A. M.— Sacred Heart. 
Whitman, A. A.— Not a Man, and Yet a Man. 
The Rape of Florida. 
Poems. 
Wells, Ida B.— A Red Record. 
Williams, Prof. D. B.— Science and Art of Elocution. 

Freedom and Progress. 
Williams, George W., LL. D.— A History of the Negro 
Troops in the Rebellion. 
History of the Negro Race in America. 
Wilson, J. T.— Black Phalanx (History of Negro 
Soldiers). 
Emancipation. 

Twenty-two Years of Freedom. 
Voice of a New Race. 
Wrig^ht, Prof. R. R.— A Brief Historical Sketch of 
Negro Education in Georgia. 

Rev. Charles T. Walker, D. D., pastor of the 
Mount Olivet Baptist church, New York City, was 
born a slave in Richmond county, Georgia, January 
II, 1859. He was the youngest of eleven children. 
His father was buried the day before his son's birth. 

When about eight years old his mother also passed 
away, leaving him to battle for himself. 

In 1873, while working in a cotton field, he sud- 
denly decided to be at peace with God. He went into 
the woods where for three days he wrestled, without 
food or drink, when the struggle ended and he was 
happily converted. 

After spending several j^ears in public school, he felt 



PERSONAGES OF THE AFRO- AMERICAN RACK. 






that he was called to the ministry. Accordin^'ly he 
entered the Theological Institute, at Augusta, (ieorgia. 
For five years he studied, showing much energy and 
ability. 



./ 




REV. CHARLES T. WALKER, H. D. 

Pastor Mount Olivet Baptist Church, New York City. 
He was licensed to preach in 1S76. and ordained to 
the ministry when but eighteen years old. He was 
immediately elected pastor of his mother-church which 
had been organized in 184S. The house had been 
built by slaves after they had worked all day for their 
masters. 



582b 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



After successful pastorates at Waynesboro, La 
Grange, and Augusta, Georgia, his friends at Augusta 
sent him to Europe and the Holy Land. On his re- 
turn he wrote a book on '*A Colored Man Abroad." 

He has given much time to evangelistic work, and 
counts 10,000 conversions under his preaching. He 
has been called the '* Black Spurgeon," and is some- 
times known as the "Colored John the Baptist." 

In addition to his pastoral and evangelistic work, he 
has done much to encourage education among his 
own people. He was one of the founders of the 
Walker Baptist Institute at Augusta, Georgia. He is 
still its financial secretary. 

He is trustee of the Atlanta Baptist College, vice- 
president of the National Baptist Convention of the 
United States, and one of the vice-presidents of the 
International and Interdenominational Sunday School 
Convention of America and Canada. 

While doing heavy pastoral work in New York, he 
was instrumental in organizing a colored Y. M. C. A. 
of 500 members. They are now engaged in raising 
money for permanent quarters of their own. 

Doctor Walker is still a student, and is at present 
engaged in the study of the Hebrew and the Spanish 
languages. 

As a speaker he is eloquent and convincing. His 
"Appeal to Caesar," in which he replies to Rev. Henry 
Frank upon his criticism of the negro race, and his 
review of the Montgomery conference, are perhaps his 
most noted efforts. 

During the Spanish-American war, Dr. Walker was 
chaplain of the 9th Immune regiment, and served in 
Santiago and San Luis, Cuba. 



CHAPTER XV. 

PLANTATION MELODIES. 

INCIDENTS, EXPERIENCES AND PLEASANTRIES. 

Hampton and Its Students. — For many years tuc 
Hampton school has been making- an eflurt to preserve 
and collect the spiritual songs of the Negroes in Amer- 
ica, and to give to its students so great a love for these 
beautiful utterances of the emotions of an enslaved and 
deeply religious race that they would strive as they 
went out to gather up and preserve a form of emotional 
expression only too likely to pass away in tlie transition 
period through which the colored people are now pass- 
ing. So impossible is it to reproduce this music under 
changed conditions that there is danger lest even where 
both words and music are preserved, the spirit which 
gives it its peculiar chann may be lost forever. The 
educated Negro cannot sing the old songs as his father 
sang them. He may yet evolve a higher and nobler 
music of his own, but the old spirituals, squeezed as 
it were out of the human heart by the pressure of slav- 
ery, are a part of his history that he cannot afford to 
lose — a breaking forth from bondage of that thing which 
could never be enslaved, the genius of a race. 

Hampton and its students have done more to pre- 
serve Negro melodies than any other agency. 

The following are a few of the many songs that might 
be eiven. Most of them are taken from the Hampton 
collection. 

583 



584 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

THE ANGELS DONE CHANGED MY NAME. 

" I went to the hillside, I went to pray; 

I know the angels done changed my name — 
Done changed my name for the coming day ; 
I knew the angels done changed my name. 

'* I looked at my hands, my hands was new, 
I knew the-angels done changed my name; 
I looked at my feet, and my feet was, too — 
Thank God the angels done changed my name." 

While the Negro brought out from bondage no liter- 
ature and no theology, yet he did bring with him the 
plantation songs which show in Christian song that 
the doctrines of Christianity were held by these people 
in the days of slavery. We cannot expect to find the 
same modes of expression now that prevailed among 
them while in slavery, but that they held to the funda- 
mental truths of religion must be recognized by all who 
study these songs. That they believed in Christ as a 
Savior from sin and in the Atonement is beautifully 
illustrated in the refrain — 

" I've been redeemed! I've been redeemed! 
Been washed in de blood ob de lamb." 

The Divinity of Christ is shown in — 

" Jus' Stan' right still and steady yo'self : 
I know that my Redeemer lives. 
Oh, jus' let me tell yo' about God hisself : 
I know that my Redeemer lives." 

At Tougaloo, Mississippi, they sing a hymn which 

especially emphasizes the personality of Satan, which, 

it seems, they never doubted — 

•• Ole Satan he wears de hypocrite shoe ; 
If yo' don' min' he slip it on yo'." 

Frederick Douglass says that — 

" Run to Jesus, shun the danger, 
I don't expect to stay much longer here." 



PLANTATION MELODIES, ETC. 5bJ 

sung on the plantation where he was a slave, first sug- 
gested to him the thought of escaping from slavery, or, 
as he put it, *' Praying with his feet. " 

While their lives were full of miser)- on account of 
the oppressions of their masters, their songs do not 
show anywhere a revengeful spirit. They looked for- 
ward with confidence, expecting to be relieved in the 
land of the redeemed. 

" Shine, shine, I'll meet you in that morning. 
Oh, my soul's goin' to shine, to shine: 
I'm goin' to sit down to a welcome table- 
Shine, shine, my soul's goin' to shine." 

SWING LOW. SWEET CHARIOT. 

Oh, de good ole chariot swing so low, 

Good ole chariot swing so low. 

Oh, de good ole chariot swing so low, 

I don't want to leave me behind. 
Chorus. — Oh, swing low, sweet chariot. 
Swing low, sweet chariot. 
Swing low, sweet chariot, 
I don't want to leave me behind. 

Oh, de good ole chariot will take us all home, 
I don't want to leave me behind. 
Cho. — Oh, swing low, sweet, etc. 

THE DANVILLE CHARIOT. 

Chorus.— Oh, swing low, sweet chariot; 
Pray let me enter in^ 
I don't want to stay here no longer. 

I done been to heaven, an' I done been tired, 
I been to the water, an' I been baptized— 

I don't want to stay no longer. 
O, down to the water I was led, 
My soul got fed with heav'nly bread— 

I don't want to stay here no longer. 
Cho.— Oh, swing low, sweet chariot, etc. 



PLANTATION MELODIKS, KTC. 587 

I had a little book, an* I read it through. 
I got my Jesus as well as you ; 

Oh, I got a mother in the promised laud. 
I hope my mother will feed dem lambs— 

I don't want to stay here no longer. 
Cho.— Oh, swing low, sweet chariot, etc. 

Oh, some go to church for to holler an' shout. 
Before six months they're all turned out— 

I don't want to stay here no longer. 
Oh, some go to church for to laugh an' talk, 
But dey knows nothin* 'bout dat Christian walk— 

I don't want to stay here no longer. 
Cho. — Oh, swing low, sweet chariot, etc. 

Oh, shout, shout, de deb'l is about; 
Oh, shut your do' an' keep him out — 

I don't want to stay here no longer. 
For he is so much-a like-a snaky in de grass, 
Ef you don' mind he will get you at las' — 

I don't want to stay here no longe»- 
Cho. — Oh, swing low, sweet chariot, etc 

VIEW DE LAND. 

I'm born of God, I know I am — View de land, view dc land ! 
And you deny it if you can — Go view de heav'nly land. 
I want to go to heaven when I die — View de land, view dc land! 
To shout salvation as I fly — Go view de heav'nly land. 

Chorus. — 

' Oh, 'way over Jordan — View de land, view de land! 
'Way over Jordan — Go view de heavenly land. 

What kind of shoes is dem-a you wear? View dc land, etc. 
Dat you can walk upon the air? Go view, etc. 
Dem shoes I wear are de Gospel shoes— View the land, etc 
An' you can wear dem ef-a you choose — Go view, etc. — Cho. 

Der' is a tree in paradise — View the land, etc. 

De Christian he call it de tree ob life— Go view, etc. 

I spects to eat de fruit right off o' dat tree— View de land, etc. 

Ef busy old Satan will let-a me be— Go view, etc.- Cho. 

You say yer Jesus set-a you fre^-View de land. etc. 
Why don't you let-a your neighbor be? Go view, etc 
39 Progress 



588 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



You say you're aiming for de skies— View de land, etc. 
Why don't you stop-a your telling lies? Go view, etc.— Cho. 

OH, YES. 
Ef eber I land on de oder sho'— Oh, yes! 
I'll neber come here for to sing no more— Oh, yes! 
A golden band all round my waist, 
An' de palms of victory in my hand. 
An' de golden slippers on to my feet— 
Gwine to walk up an' down o' dem golden street. 

Chorus.— Oh, wait till I put on my robe — 

Wait till I put on my robe. Oh, yes! Oh, yes- 

An', my lobely bretherin, dat ain't all— Oh, yes 

I'm not done a-talkin' about my Lord. 

An* a golden crown a-placed on-a my head, 

An' my long white robe a-come a-dazzlin' down; 

Now wait till I get on my Gospel shoes, 

Gwine to walk about de heaven an' a-carry de news.— Cho. 

I'm anchored in Christ, Christ anchored in me— Oh, yes! 
All de debils in hell can't a-pluck me out; 
An' I wonder what Satan's grumbling about. 
He's bound into hell, an' he can't git out. 
But he shall be loose and hab his sway- 
Yea, at de great resurrection day.— Cho. 

I went down de hillside to make a-one prayer— Oh, yes ! 

An* when I got dere Ole Satan was dere— Oh, yes ! 

An' what do you t'ink he said to me? Oh, yes! 

Said, "Off from here you'd better be." Oh, yes ! 

And what for to do I did not know— Oh, yes ! 

But I fell on my knees and I cried 'Oh, Lord!'— Oh, yes! 

Now, my Jesus bein' so good an' kind. 

Yea, to the with-er-ed, halt, and blind— 

My Jesus lowered His mercy down. 

An' snatch-a me from a-dem doors ob hell. 

He a-snatch-a me from dem doors ob hell, 

An' took-a me in a-wid him to dwell.— Cho. 

I was in de church an' pray in' loud. 
An* on my knees to Jesus bowed ; 
Ole Satan tole me to my face 



PLANTATION MELODIES, ETC. 589 

"I'll git you when-a you leave (lis place." 

Oh, brother, dat scare me to my heart, 

I was 'fraid to walk-a when it was dark.— Cho. 

I started home, but I did pray. 

An' I met ole Satan on de way; 

Ole Satan made a-one grab at me, 

But he missed my soul an' I went free. 

My sins went a-lumberin' down to hell. 

An' my soul went a-leaping^up Zion's hill. 

I tell ye what, bretherin, you'd better not laugh, 

Ole Satan'U run you down his path ; 

If he runs you as he run me 

You'll be glad to fall upon your knee. 

Chorus. — Oh, wait till I put on my robe. 

Wait till I put on my robe — Oh, yes! Oh, yes! 

MY LORD DELIVERED DANIEL. 

I met a pilgi'im on de way. 
An' I ask him whar he's a gwine. 
I'm bound for Canaan's happy land. 
An' dis is de shouting band. Go on ! 

Chorus.— My Lord delibered Daniel, 
My Lord delibered Daniel, 
My Lord delibered Daniel — 
Why can't he deliber me? 

Some say dat John de Baptist 

Was nothing but a Jew ; 

But de Bible doth inform us 

Dat he was a preacher, too.— Yes, he was! 
Chorus.— My Lord delibered Daniel, etc. 

Oh, Daniel cast in the lions' den, 

He pray both night and day ; 

De angel came from Galilee, 

And lock de lions' jaw. Dat's so. 
Chorus.— My Lord delibered Daniel, etc. 

He delibered Daniel from de lions' den, 

Jonah from de belly ob de whale, 

An' de Hebrew children from de fier>' furnace— 

An' why not ebery man? Oh, yes! 
Chorus.— My Lord delibered Daniel, etc. 



590 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

De richest man dat eber I saw 
Was de one dat beg de most ; 
His soul was filled wid Jesus, 
An' wid de Holy Ghost. Yes, it was. 
Chorus. — My Lord delibered Daniel, etc. 

NOBODY KNOWS THE TROUBLE I'VE SEEN. 

Sometimes I'm up, sometimes I'm down — Oh, yes. Lord. 
Sometimes I'm almost to de groun' — Oh, yes, Lord. 
Although you see me goin' long so — Oh, yes, Lord. 
I have my trials here below. — Oh, yes. Lord. 
Chorus. — Oh, nobody knows de trouble I've seen. 

Nobody knows but Jesus ; 

Nobody knows de trouble I've seen — 

Glory Hallelujah ! 

One day when I was walkin' along — Oh, yes. Lord. 
De element opened, an' de love came down — Oh, yes. Lord. 
I never shall forget dat day — Oh, yes, Lord. 
When Jesus washed my sins away. — Oh, yes, Lord. 
Chorus. — Oh, nobody knows the trouble, etc. 

HAIL ! HAIL ! HAIL ! 

Oh, look up yander, what I see — 

I'm on my journey home; 
Bright angels comin' arter me — 
I'm on my journey home. 
Chorus. — Children, hail! hail! hail! 

I'm gwine jine saints above; 

Hail! hail! hail! 

I'm on my journey home. 

If you git dere before I do — 

I'm on my journey home; 
Look out for me, I'm comin' too— 

I'm on my journey home. 
Chorus. — Children, hail! etc. 

Oh, hallelujah to de Lamb ! 

I'm on my journey home; 
King Jesus died for ebery man — 

I'm on my journey home. 
Chorus. — Children, hail! etc. 



PLANTATION MELODIES, ETC. 



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SCRIPTURAL REMINISCENCES. 

Aunt Patty: "Bress me, Uncle Abum, ef ycr doesn't call to 
mind Baalam gwine down ter J'rusalem." 

Uncle Abram (with a weakness for Aunt P:ittyJ: " Yaas. .imi 
does yer "member dar stood an angel in de way? " 

WISE SAYINGS— " MULTUM IX PARVO." 
•' Long ha'r don't hide de brand on de horse." 
" Muddy roads call de mile-post a liar." 
" 'Tis hard to make clo'es fit a miserbul man. " 
" De stopper gits de longes' res' in de empty jug." 
" De church 'bells sometimes do better wuk dan de sermon." 
" Some o' de wus lookin' animals at de county fa'r got tt. pay 

to get in." . u • .. 

- De price ob your hat ain't de medjer ob your bram. 
" Ef your coat-tail cotch a-fire. don't wait till you k.n see dc 

blaze '£o' you put it out." 

" De graveyard is de cheapes* boardin'-house. 

" Dar's a fam'ly coolness 'twix' de mule an' de smgle-trec. ^ 

"It pesters a man dreadful when he git mad an don knou 

who to cuss." 

" Buvin' on credit is robbin' next 'ear s crop. 

«' Chris'mas without holiday is like a candle vsnthout a wick. 



592 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

" De crawfish in a hurry look like he tryin' to git dar yistiddy." 

" Lean houn' lead de pack when de rabbit in sight." 

" Little flakes make de deepes' snow." 

" Knot in de plank will show froo de whitewash." 

" A short yardstick is a po' thing to fight de debbul wid." 

" Dirt show de quickes' on de cleanes' cotton." 

" De candy-pullin' kin call louder dan de log-roUin'," 

" De bes' apple float on de top o' de peck medjer." 

" De right sort o' 'ligion heaps de half-bushel." 

" De steel hoe dat laughs at de iron one is like de man dat is 

'shamed o' his grand-daddy." 

" A mule kin tote so much goodness in his face dat he don't 

hab none lef for his hind legs." 

" Some grabble walks may lead to de jail." . 

" De cow-bell can't keep a secret." 

" Ripe apples make de tree look taller." 

" De red rose don't brag in de dark." 

" Blind horse knows when de trough empty. " 

" De noise of de wheels don't medjer de load in de wagon.' 

" Las' 'ear's hot spell cools off mighty fast." 

" Little hole in your pocket is wusser'n a big one at de knee." 

" Appetite don't reggerlate de time o' day." 

" De quagmire don't hang out no sign." 

" One pusson kin th'ead a needle better than two." 

" De pint o' de pin is de easiest en' to find." 

" De green top don't medjer de price o' de turnup." 

" Muzzle on de yard dog unlocks de smokehouse." 

" 'Tis hard for de bes' an' smartes' folks in de wul' to git 'long 

widout a little tech o' good luck." 

" De billy-goat gits in his hardes' licks when he looks like he 

gwine to back out o' de fight." 

Miss Anita Hemming, tall, brunette, and graceful, 
was one of the graduates at Vassar in 1897, and, although 
the world did not know it, there was then enacted a 
great scene, showing the advance of woman into the 
iife-giving but long-forgotten precept that all men are 
born free and equal. This yoimg woman, who stood 
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594 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

kept the secret of her birth from her associates — the 
secret that blood that marks a race of slaves flowed 
through her veins. It was just before examination 
when the faculty, to their utter astonishment, learned 
that into that stately and exclusive institution an alien 
race had gained admission. To this school for young 
ladies of the highest circle of society this modest, 
studious, refined young lady had gained admission 
without making known the secret of her birth. The 
question for the faculty to decide was a hard one. The 
girl, in deportment, scholarship, and in every way, 
was worthy, but yet would the public receive the inno- 
vation. After due consideration the young woman, 
whose only fault lay in the accident of her birth, was 
informed that she would be allowed to graduate with 
her class. 

Then the girls of the finishing class heard the story. 
Some of them were from the proudest old families of 
the South, but they took her hands with right good 
comradeship, and the real ordeal for her had passed. 

Miss Hemming stood among her associates at com- 
mencement in her simple white gown, a mark for 
many eyes. Her dark hair, with its burnished waves, 
was brushed back from her low, broad brow ; a deep 
flush burned in her cheeks, and she was fairer than 
many of the blue-blooded girls around her. Then 
she went out into the world. But the attitude taken 
by Vassar's august faculty could not be ignored, and 
the young alumnus of 1897 gained the position of 
assistant in the Boston public library. 

Fred Douglass. — In the course of an address made 
to a colored school in Talbot county, Maryland, where 
he was born a slave, Frederick Douglass said: "I once 
knew a little colored boy, whose father and mother 



PLANTATION MELODIES, ETC. 595 

died when he was six years old. He was a slave, and 
had no one to care for him. He slept on a dirt floor 
in a hovel, and in cold weather would crawl into a 
meal bag, headforemost, and leave his feet in the 
ashes to keep them warm. Often he would roast an 
ear of corn and eat it to satisfy his hunger, and many 
times has he crawled under the barn or stable and 
secured eggs, which he would roast in the fire and cat. 

This boy did not wear pants, like you do, but a 
tow linen shirt. Schools were unknown to him, and 
he learned to spell from an old Webster's spelling 
book, and to read and write from posters on cellars 
and barn doors, while boys and men would help him. 
He would then preach and speak, and soon became 
well known. He became presidential elector, United 
states marshal, United States recorder. United States 
diplomat, and accumulated some wealth. He wore 
broadcloth, and didn't have to divide crumbs with the 
dogs under the table. That boy was Frederick 
Douglass. 

What was possible for me is possible for you. 
Don't think because you are colored you can't accom- 
plish anything. Strive earnestly to add to your 
knowledge. So long as you remain in ignorance, so 
long will you fail to command the respect of your fel- 
low men." 

Fred Douglass. — Fred Douglass has said that Presi- 
dent Lincoln was the only white man with whom he 
ever associated in this country who did not make him 
feel that he was colored and a supposed inferior, and 
that only in England and on the continent among the 
Caucasians had he been permitted to realize that he 
was a man and an equal. 

Everything Must Go.— In a lecture by Rev. William 



596 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Johnson, illustrating the law that "everything- must 
go," he gives the following: "A minister told me that 
he fell in love with his wife at first sight, and married 
after six months' acquaintance. 'But,' said he, 'dur- 
ing that whole time I went to see her every day. At. 
four o'clock I was always there. ' Some young men 
do not choose that delightful hour to visit, but go 
later. One young man lingered at the gate after a 
long visit, and the girl began to cry. He said, 'Dear, 
don't cry; I will come to see you again.' But she 
cried on. 'O, darling, don't cry so; I will be sure to 
come again. ' Still she cried. At last he said: 'Love, 
did I not tell you that I would soon come again to see 
you?' And through her tears she replied: 'Yes, but I 
am afraid you never will go ; that is what is the mat- 
ter with me. ' We must all go. ' ' 

In the same lecture on the subject of practical phil- 
osophy, he gives the following: 

"Uncle Jim was once asked a great question. It 
was: 'If you had to be blown up which would you 
choose, to be blown up on the railroad or the steam- 
boat?' 'Well,' said Uncle Jim, 'I don't want to be 
blowed up no way ; but if I had to be blowed up I 
would rather be blowed up on de railroad, because, 
you see, if you is blowed up on de railroad, dar you 
is, but if you is blowed up on de steamboat, whar is 
you?' He was practical in his philosophy. " 

Faithful Service Rewarded.— On July lo, 1897, 
Alexander B. Williamson, colored, of Memphis, Ten- 
nessee, didn't have a cent that he could call his own. 
July 1 1 he went to the probate judge, J. S. Galloway, 
and qualified to take possession of a fortune valued at 
$45,000, that had been left him under the will of the 
late Mrs. Clara Mariani. This is the reward the Neero 



PLANTATION MELODIES, ETC. 51)7 

gets for a lifetime of devotion to duty in the service 
of the family of the woman who has just died. He has 
for years been in charge of the affairs of Mrs. Mariani, 
and has always been found honest, diligent and pecul- 
iarly trustworthy. She gave him credit for having 
done much to make the fortune she left behind, and 
as she had no relatives living to whom she could leave 
her property, she thought it was only just that it 
should go to this faithful servant. 

Mr. Moody. — When Mr. Moody was preaching in 
Washington, he asserted that if Jesus Christ should* 
return to this world in person and appear in that city 
the people would not consent to be governed by him. 
He asked the audience if they would receive him, and 
to emphasize the assertion, he appealed to an aged 
Negro man sitting near the pulpit. "Would you vote 
for him?" The reply came promptly, "It would do 
no good; they wouldn't count my vote." 

A Negro Huckster was driving his wagon through 
the streets of Richmond, yelling at the top of his 
voice, " 'Tatoes, 'tatoes!" A black woman standing 
at a gate said to him: "Hush yo' mouf, nigger, an* 
stop makin' such a fuss!" "Yo' he'rd mc then?" he 
said. "He'rd yo' ! I could hear yo' a mile!" "That 
is why I am yelling," said he. 'Tatoes! 'tatoes!" 

THE FUNERAL. 
I was walking in Savannah, past a church decayed and dim. 
When there slowly through the window came a plamt.vc funeral 

hymn ; 
And a sympathy awakened and a wonder quickly grow 
Till I found myself environed in a little Negro pew. 
Out in front a colored couple sat in sorrow, nearly wild, 
On the altar was a coffin, in the coffin was a child. 
I could picture him when living-curly hair, protniding hp-- 
And had seen perhaps a thousand in my hurried boullv -n tnn. 



598 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

But no baby ever rested in the soothing arms of death 
That had fanned more flames of sorrow with his fluttering breath ; 
And no funeral ever glistened with more sympathy profound 
Than was in the chain of tear drops that enclasped those mourn- 
ers round. 

Rose a sad old colored preacher at the little wooden desk, 
With a manner grandly awkward, with a countenance grotesque ; 
With simplicity and shrewdness on his Ethiopian face, 
With the ignorance and wisdom of a crushed, undying race. 

And he said, " Now don' be weepin' for dis pretty bit o* clay— 
For de little boy who lived there he done gone an' run away! 
*He was doin' very finely, an' he 'predate your love. 
But his sure 'nuff Father want him in de large house up above. 

" Now He didn't give you dat baby, by a hundred thousand mile! 
He just think you need some sunshine, an' He lend it for a while ! 
An* He let you keep an' love him till your heart was bigger 

grown ; 
An' dese silver tears you're sheddin's just de interest on de loan. 

" Here yer oder pretty chillun!— Don't be makin' it appear 
Dat your love got sort o' 'nopolized by this little fellow here. 
Don't pile up too much sorrows on deir little mental shelves, 
So's to kind o' set 'em wonderin' if dey're no account demselves! 

"Just you think, you poor deah mounahs, creepin' 'long o'er 

sorrow's way, 
What a blessed little picnic dis yere baby's got to-day! 
Your good faders and good moders crowd de little fellow round 
In de angel-tended garden in de Big Plantation Ground ! 

'• An' dey ask him, ' Was your feet sore?' an' take off his little 
shoes. 

An' dey wash him, an' dey kiss him, an' dey say, ' Now, what's 

de news? ' 
An de Lord done cut his tongue loose, den de little fellow say, 
* All our folks down in de valley tries to keep de hebbenly way. ' 

"An' his eyes dey brightly sparkle at de pretty tings he view; 
Den a tear come, an' he whisper, ' But I want my parents, too ! ' 
But de angel Chief Musician teach dat boy a little song- 
Says, ' If only dey be faithful, dey will soon be comin' 'long.' 



PLANTATION MELODIES, ETC. 59i) 

" An' he'll get an education dat will probably be worth 
Seberal times as much as any you cou.d buy for him on earth ; 
He'll be in de Lawd's big schoolhouse, widout no contempt or fear, 
While dere's no end to de bad things might have happened lo 
him here. 

" So, my poor, dejected, mounahs, let your hearts wid Jesus rest, 
An' don't go to criticisin' dat ar One wot knows de best! 
But have sent us many comforts He have right to take away — 
To de Lawd be praise an' glory, now an' ever! Let us pray." 

—Will ^L Carlcton. 

A LULLABY. 

Bedtime's come fu' little boys, 

Po' little lamb. 
Too tiahed out to make a noise, 

Po' little lamb. 
You gwine t' have to-morrer sho'? 
Yes, you tole me dat befo', 
Don't you fool me, chile, no mo', 

Po' little lamb. 

You been bad de livelong day, 

Po' little lamb. 
Th'owin' stones an' runnin" 'way, 

Po little lamb. 
My, but you's a-runnin' wild! 
Look jes' lak some po' folks' chile ; 
Mam gwine whup you atter wliile, 

Po' little lamb. 

Come hyeah ! you mos' tiahed to dcf , 

Po' little lamb. 
Played yo'sel' clean out o' bref, 

Po little lamb. 
See dem ban's now— sich a sight! 
Would you evah b'lieve dey's white? 
Stan' still 'twell I wash dem right. 

Po' little lamb. 
Jes' cain't hoi' yo' haid up straight, 

Po' little lamb. 
Hadn't oughter played so late 

'Po' Uttle lamb. 



PLANTATION MELODIES, ETC. COj 

Mammy do' know whut she'd do. 
Ef de chillun's all lak you; 
You's a caution now, fu' true, 
Po' little lamb. 

Lay yo' haid down in my lap, 

Po' little lamb. 
Y'ought to have a right good slap, 

Po' little lamb. 
You been runnin' roun' a heap. 
Shet dem eyes an' don't you peep— 
Dah now, dah now, go to sleep — 

Po' little lamb. 

— Paul Lawrence Dunbar. 

WHEN THE WARM DAYS COME. 

When the warm days come, an' the green is all around, 
An' the bushes are noddin' to their shadders on the grountl; 
When the meader lark is singin' 'round its nest hid in the grass. 
An' the brown thrush is a-swingin' 'mongst the thorn an' sassa- 
fras. 

When the Juneberry's in blossom, tho' the oak tree still is bare; 
When the blows are all a-fallin' from the cherry an' the jxjar; 
When the orchard is in blossom, an' the roads are gittin' dry 
An' the lilacs are a-flirtin' w4th the lazy butterfly. 

When the world is full of sunshine, an' workin' seems a sin, 
An' you don't want to do nothin' but jest sit an* soak it in ; 
When the very fields look sleepy from the wild bee's drowsy luim. 
An' the birds all go to matin', when the warm days come. 

THANKSGIVING IN DIXIE. 

Now de fros' am in de meader, 

An' we's habin' chilly weader, 
An' de owel air a hootin' ter de moon. 

An 'de cotton 'pears to thickin, 

Atter ebery curfui pickin'. 
An' de bossman call de niggers good an' soon. 

Fur de lighted knot air bumin'. 
An' de cider mill air turnin'. 
An' de taters air all ready f utter roas". 



602 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

An' de possum he's er feelin* 
Of de 'Simmon's juicy peelin', 
Whattle make him fat and fitten futter roas'. 
An de sunshine's pale an' sailer, 
An' de leaves air turnin yaller' 
An' de turkey gobbler gobble th in de Ian' ; 
An' de pound cake air a bakin', 
An de fat'nin' pigs er quakin', 
For Thanksgivln' Day air mighty close at han'. 
Hit's de day 'at samt an' sinner 
Has good eatin's fur his dinner. 
An' thanks de Lord 'at's kep' him safe an' soun'. 
An' I hopes de sin confessin's 
An' de Heabenly Father's blessin's 
Will be plentiful enough to go er roun'. 

—Ellen Frizell Wyccft. 
DAT THANKSGIVIN' TURKEY. 
Turkey gobbler, proud and fat. 
Scratchin' grabble like a cat — 
Now he don't know where he's at— 

Oh, dat wishbone ! 
Scratchin' grabble wid his feet, 
Dat's what makes such tender meat 
Golly! ain't he plump and sweet — 

Sweet wishbone ! 
Now's de snowflakes in de sky, 
Co'n pones costin' mighty high, 
I must make dese feathers fly — 

Oh, dat wishbone ! 
Lightwocd fire de cabin cheer — 
Turkey, now we're glad you's here, 
Thanksgivin' come but once a year — 
Sweet wishbone ! 

A colored philosopher is reported to have said: 
**Life, my bredden, am mos'ly made up of prayin' for 
rain an' then wishin' it would cl'ar off." 

A Figurative Prayer.— A white minister was con- 
ducting revival services in a colored church in North 



PLANTATION MELODIES, ETC C)03 

Carolina. After exhorting a bit he asked an old col- 
ored deacon to lead in prayer. According to the 
Roanoke NewSy this is the appeal which the brother in 
black offered for his brother in white : 

"O Lord, gib him de eye ob de eagle, dot he spy out 
sin afar off. Wav his hands to de gospel plow. Tie 
his tongue to de line ob truth. Nail his car to dc 
gospel pole. Bow his head 'way dcnvn between his 
knees, and his knees way down in some lonesome, dark 
and narrer valley where prayer is much wanted to be 
made. 'Noint him wid de kerosene ile of salvation, 
and sot him on fire." 

The above is matched by the white clergyman in a 
northern town, who warned his hearers lately "not to 
walk in a slippery path lest they be sucked, maelstrom- 
like, into its meshes!" This metaphor suggests that 
of another clergyman who prayed "that the word 
might be as a nail driven in a sure place, sending its 
roots downward and its branches upward." 

WHEN DE CO'N PONE'S HOT. 

Dey is times in life when Nature 

Seems to slip a cog an' go, 
Jes' a-rattlin' down creation, 

Lak an ocean's overflow; 
When de worl' jes* stahts'a-spinnin' 

Lak a picaninny's top, 
An' yo' cup o' joy is brimmin* 

'Twell it seems about to slop, 
An' you feel jes' lak a racah 

Dat is trainin' fu' to trot — 
When yo' mammy ses de blcssin' 

An' de co'n pone's hot 
When you set down at de Lible, 

Kin' o' weary lak an' sad, 
An' you'se jes' a little tiahed, 

An' purhaps a little mad; 
40 Progress 



604 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

How yo' gloom tu'ns into gladness, 

How yo' joy drives out de doubt, 
When de oven do' is opened 

An' de smell comes po'in' out! 
Why, de 'lectric light o' Heaven 

Seems to settle on de spot, 
When yo' mammy ses de blessin' 

An de co'n pone's hot. 

When de cabbage pot is steamin' 

An' de bacon's good an' fat, 
When de chittlin's is a-sputter'n' 

So's to show yo' whah dey's at; 
Take away yo' sody biscuit. 

Take away yo' cake and pie, 
Fu' de glory time is comin'. 

An' it's 'proachin' very nigh. 
An' yo' want to jump an' hoUah, 

Do' you know you'd bettah not, 
When yo' mammy ses de blessin' 

An' de co'n pone's hot. 

I have heerd o' lots o' sermons, 

An' I've heerd o' lots o' prayers; 
An' I've listened to some singm' 

Dat has tuk me up de stairs 
Of de Glory Lan', an' sent me 

Jes' below de Mahster's th'one, 
An' have lef my haht a-singin' 

In a happy af tah tone ; 
But dem wu's so sweetly murmured 

Seem to tech de softes' spot. 
When my mammy ses de blessin' 

An' de co'n pone's hot. 

'—Paul Lawrence Du7ibar. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

PRESENT STANDING AND OUTLOOK. 

Just Judgment. — It is frequently the case tliat wc 
judge by our immediate surroundings. Upon these 
surroundings will depend our decisions, whether pes- 
simistic or optimistic in sentiment. It were better for 
us as individuals, as well as a people, if more frec[ucntly 
we were to permit ourselves to take a wider range, 
both as to extent and as to time. 

Compare, if you will, the condition of the Negro 
race half a century ago with that of today, and the 
most despondent must dismiss his fears and acknowl- 
edge the progress so marked. 

Then and Now. — Then the Negro was a piece of 
property; now he is an American citizen. 

Then chains and the lash and hounds were sending 
a constant terror to the heart of the poor slave ; now 
the most humble of the race may claim the ballot and 
protection from wrongs under the law of the state. 

Then the Negro had no rights that the white man 
need respect; now the Negro and the white man arc 
equal before the law. 

Education.— Then it was thought that the Negro 
could not learn; now he has demonstrated tliat such 
thoughts were born of ignorance and prejudice. 

Then there were laws against Negro education ; now 
laws adorn our statute books that require the ednca- 
tion of the black man. 

Then there was not a school for the Negro; now 
there are more than twentyTfive thousand schools. 

605 



606 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Then a Negro teacher was an impossibility; now 
twenty-five thousand Negro teachers are instructing 
the youth of the race. 

Then the number of Negroes that could read were 
easily counted; now it requires a census-taker to in- 
form us that four millions have learned to read and 
write. 

Then there were no Negroes in our public schools ; 
now there are over a million being instructed in them. 

Then there was gross darkness of ignorance through- 
out all the realms of the race ; now the light of intelli- 
gence has pierced these clouds and illumined the minds 
of thousands, who find a black skin* no impediment to 
Inroad scholarship and astute and clear-sighted compre- 
heUsion. 

Then the conception of a college or professional 
school for Negroes would have been regarded the prod- 
uct of a demented brain; now colleges and universities, 
medical schools and schools of law for the colored race 
are freely dotted on the map of our Southland. 

Then the charming Negro melodies were unknown ; 
now the Fisk Jubilee Singers, the Tennesseeans and 
the Hamptons have sung the fame of the Negro around 
the world. 

Religion. — Then the colored man, naturally inclined 
to religion, had neither churches nor preachers; now' 
there are thousands of colored churches, owning 
nearly twenty millions of property, with a membership 
of nearly four millions, besides publishing houses and 
a number of religious educational institutions wholly 
controlled by colored men. 

Home. — Then the Negro had no place that to him 
would express one of the most endearing words in the 
language; now a great multitude can truly say, "There 
is no place like home." 



PRESENT STANDING AND OUTLOOK. 607 

Social and Family Ties.— Then these sacred tics 
were ruthlessly broken by the auction block ; now no 
power aside from the individuals themselves can sun- 
der these ties while life remains. 

Financial. — Then the Negro owned no foot of land, 
nor property of any kind; now his accumulations arc 
rated at three hundred millions. 

Unanswerable.— Behold this array of contrasted 
facts, undisputed and unsurpassed. Who will deny 
that they furnish an unanswerable ar^mcnt of pro- 
gression in all lines. Mark the long column of Amer- 
ica's dark sons moving steadily and surely up the hill 
of progress, removing one by one the obstacles imped- 
ing the onward step and spirit of advancement of the 
age. 

Then, although with the unthinking and unreflect- 
ing multitude you may say, "It does not move," your 
better judgment and nobler self asserting its rights 
with the Galileo of old, must exclaim, ''NcverthcK 
it moves." 

True Condition.— We are not blind to the true con- 
dition of the race. When we assert that great progress 
has been made by the race, we would not have it un- 
derstood that the race as a whole has caught this spirit 
of progress. This is not the case ; there are thousands 
today who are removed but a step above slavery. The 
means at hand and the short period of time that has 
elapsed since emancipation have nc^ permitted the 
work to be as general as might be wMshcd. 

Our Position.— We must emphatically assert that, 
considering circumstances, the Negro has made re- 
markable progress. The work still remaining to be 
done is great and large, but, noting advantages, the 
Negro compares favorably with any race. Just judg- 



608 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

ment demands that in considering the lower, ignorant, 
immoral class among the blacks, we must not overlook 
the same condition among the whites who have had 
the benefit of centuries of civilization. Point one 
hand to the awful condition of the lower classes of the 
Negro and with the other you may single out similar 
conditions among the slums of our large cities and 
other places where the refuse of Europe's depraved 
classes are dumped in masses upon our shores. Mark, 
also, the fact that alleged immorality among Negro 
women is largely due to the immorality of white men. 
Then will the Christ spirit labor for elevation of man 
as man, without regard to the color of his skin. 

The Present Status. — The present status of the Negro 
is such as is highly commendable. Paying taxes upon 
$300, 000, 000 worth of property throughout this country, 
occupying offices of high trust and honor as national 
gifts, educating his children, accumulating wealth, and 
advancing in every line of industry, the Negro has 
need to congratulate himself and praise his Maker for 
such full and free benedictions so copiously showered 
upon him the past dark and stormy thirty years. 

Leaders. — "Talks for the Times" says: "At the 
close of the war, the Negro found himself in the con- 
dition of a man who wakes up out of sleep in the midst 
of a dream in which all things seemed strange and 
confused. It took him some time to adjust himself to 
the new state of affairs. He was restless; he could 
hardly realize that he was free. As the impotent 
man, sitting at the gate of the temple, when healed by 
Peter, not only praised God, but walked and leaped to 
satisfy himself of the genuineness of his cure, so the 
Negro, to test his freedom, began to move about. His 
movements, at first, were individual, then general, as 



PRESENT STANDING AND OUTLOOK. 609 

leaders sprang into existence; and it is really remark- 
able how many are the leaders when the masses art- 
ignorant For the first ten or twelve years after the 
war, nothing was more common in the South than 
leaders. Every little politician, every crank, consti- 
tuted himself a Moses to lead the Negro somewhere; 
and various were their cries. C)ne cried, 'On to 
Arkansas!' and another 'On to Texas!' and another 
'On to Africa!' and each one had a following more or 
less. One man told me that he had succeeded in lead- 
ing away from South Carolina and Georgia to Arkan- 
sas and Texas 25,000 persons." 

Levers That Move the World.— Professor Harris 
says: "The most powerful men of the world arc not 
those who control the markets, but they who control 
the hearts and direct the thoughts of their fellow 
men. Jesus Christ, in His life and teachings, has left 
us a much richer legacy than if He had turned ever)' 
stone of Judea into a nugget of gold; than if He had 
forecast all the inventions of all the ages and had 
made the streams of Palestine resonant with the hum 
of factory wheels, had lighted up the streets of Jerus;i- 
lem with the electric light, and had enabled Hcrcxi to 
talk with Augustus Caesar by means of the telephone. 
Homer, singing his Iliad, while begging his bread; 
poor blind Milton, in his Paradise Lost; the thinker. 
Bunyan, in his Pilgrim's Progress; Carlyle, writing 
his Pleroes and Hero Worship, with only a silver spoon 
between him and the wolf at the door, have made the 
world far richer and happier and better than they ever 
could have done had they devoted their lives to the 
amassing of wealth. These are the men who hold the 
levers that move the world. Their influence is far 
deeper and longer lasting than that of any \\ all street 



610 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

broker or railroad king. These are the men who 
fashion the lives and determine the character of gener- 
ations to come. These are the men to whom the world 
looks for hope in time of despair, and light in time of 
darkness. They are the very salt of our civilization, 
and without the impulse, the hope and the inspiration 
which we gather from them and their lives, we should 
relapse into barbarism. Let us imitate them. 

Warfare Against Wrong.— As Hannibal, almost 
as soon as he was born into the world, was made to 
swear eternal warfare against Rome, so should the 
educated. Christian young men of our race, as soon as 
they are born into the Kingdom of God, dedicate them- 
selves to a life-long warfare against the degradation 
and wrongs of our people. As Cato was so possessed 
by the sense of danger that threatened Rome from 
Carthage that he ended all of his speeches with 
"Carthage must be destroyed," so should the educated 
young men of our race be so possessed with a sense of 
the dangers that are not only coming to us from 
without, but are also existing within, that the remedy 
for these evils should be the keynote of every song, 
the burden of every prayer, and the theme of every 
address. 

A Hundred Men. — Dr. Josiah Strong is authority for 
the statement that at one time Napoleon Bonaparte 
wanted one hundred men to do a piece of strategic 
work. In calling for a hundred volunteers, he explain- 
ed to his regiment that although ultimate victory 
would be secured, every one of those one hundred men 
would be instantly killed. Notwithstanding this warn- 
ing of certain death, not only one hundred soldiers, 
but the whole regiment, down to a man, stepped for- 
ward and offered themselves to the Emperor's service. 



PRESENT STANDING AND OUTLOOK. Gil 

Arouse to Action. — If one man, like Napoleon Bon- 
aparte, could waken such enthusiasm among '... 
soldiers that they were willinp^ to die for him. how 
much more should the condition and needs of our 
people awaken a similar enthusiasm amonjj us? How 
much more should we be aroused to action by the pit- 
iable condition of our race — by their moral dcj^ada- 
tion, by their intellectual poverty, and by their \vn>: 
which cry day and night unto the God of heaven tor 
venofeance. How much more should we be moved by 
that large army of rag-clad, husk-fed, unw. 
disease-breeding colored people, so ignorant that, 
the Ninevites, they do not know their right hand from 
their left, and by that nearly two hundred who arc 
lynched every year, men who are "butchered" by 
midnight revelers, "to make for them a Roman 
holiday?" 

Just Tribute.— Dr. Haygood says: "With all 
his faults and imperfections, many of them cruelly 
exaggerated by caricaturists and sensational writ 
I bear this testimony to the Negro preacher in the 
South: Life would be much harder there without him. 
With rare exceptions, they have been found on the 
side of law and order, and in our days of distress and 
storm they were, as a class, conservators of the pc.. 
There are some shocking exceptions. They have 
urged their people to send their children to school, and 
have been useful in a thousand ways. The tens who 
fall into disgrace and sin are widely advertised ; the 
hundreds who simply do their duty are unknown lo 
th- newspaper world. I have seen them in their many 
religious moods; in their most death-hkc trances and 
in their wildest outbreaks of excitement. I h-ivc 
preached to them in town and country and on the j 



612 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

tations. I have been their pastor, have led their classes 
and prayer meetings, conducted their love feasts and 
taught them the catechism. I have married them, 
baptized their children and buried their dead. In the 
reality of religion among them I have the most entire 
confidence, nor can I ever doubt it while it is a reality 
to me. In many things their motions may be crude, 
their conceptions of truth realistic, sometimes to a 
painful, sometimes to a grotesque, degree. They are 
more emotional than ethical. 

"Strongest Characteristic. — The average of their 
morals is not high ; they do many things they ought 
not ; nevertheless, their religion is their most striking 
and important, their strongest and their most forma- 
tive characteristic. They are more remarkable here 
than anywhere else; their religion has had more to do 
in shaping their better character in this country than 
all other influences combined ; it will most determine 
what they are to become in their future development. 
It is wrong to condemn them harshly when judged by 
the standard white people hardly dare apply to 
themselves with their two thousand years the start of 
them. The just God did not judge half-barbarous 
Israel, wandering in the twilight about the wilderness 
of Sinai, as he judges us on whom the sun of right- 
eousness has risen with the full light of the Gospel 
day. ' ' 

Unparalled. — The history of the Negro on this con- 
tinent is full of pathetic and tragic romance, and of 
startling, unparalleled incident. The seizure in Africa, 
the forcible abduction and cruel exportation, the coer- 
cive enslavement, the subjection to environments which 
emasculate a race of all noble aspirations and doom 
inevitably to hopeless ignorance and inferiority, living 



PRESENT STANDING AND OUTLOOK. VA^^ 

in the midst of enlightenments and noblest civiiizauon, 
and yet forbidden to enjoy the benefits of which others 
were partakers, for foi;r years amid battle, and yet, 
for the most part, having no personal share in the 
conflict, by statute and organic law of nations held in 
fetters and inequality, and then, in the twinklinj^ of 
an eye, lifted from bondage to freedom, from slaver}' 
to citizenship, from dependence on others and guard- 
ianship to suffrage and eligibility to office, can be 
predicated of no other race. Other peoples, after lon^ 
and weary years of discipline and struggle against 
heaviest odds, have won liberty and free government. 
This race, almost without lifting a hand, unap])rccia- 
tive of the boon except in the lowest aspects of it, and 
unprepared for privileges and responsibiHtics, has Ix^cn 
lifted to a plane of citizenship and freedom such as 
is enjoyed, in an equal degree, by no people in the 
world outside of the United States. 

Thought.— Professor H. T. Kcaling, A. M., editor 
of the A. M. E. Church Review recently said: "One 
does not begin to be a man till he rises above physical 
sensation into thought realms. Man should feel the 
mind and soul as w^ell as the body. What a pitiable 
sight to see a 3oo-poimd body inhabited by a two-ounce 
mind. The Negro can look for honorable connection 
with the progress, invention and civiHzation of the age 
only by his thought relation to it. It is not sufficient 
that when a telegraph system is begun we should dig 
the postholes. It will not give us a place among the 
great American forces that are threading this country' 
with railroads for us to cut the ties. Muscle is not 
manhood. Physical size is not greatness. If it were. 
the elephant is a greater man than man. Thought, 
power, character, and integrity are the element, we 
need. 



614 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Age of Progress. — ' ' It is not enough to congratulate 
ourselves on living in an age of progress. If a train is 
passing through this city, and a passenger in the rear 
coach hopes to sit still and overtake a passenger in the 
front coach, his hope will be vain. He must put forth 
personal locomotion. Now the train of progress is 
passing through the land. There is a man on the 
front coach, we call him the white man. There is a 
man on the rear coach, we call him the black man. 
We must do something ourselves for ourselves before 
we enter among the producing forces. 

Companionship, — "Give us men who can retrospect 
the past and project intelligent glances into the future. 
Make your companionship with Homer, Dante, Darwin, 
Emerson, and Carlyle. 

Confusion. — ' ' Some assert that the Negro is retro- 
grading, and they cite the confusion and unclassified 
state of our society in proof. But this confusion is to 
me a strong sign of advancement. 

"Suppose two men are asleep in the dirt and mud. 
There is no confusion there. All is peace — the peace 
of common filth and lethargy. But suppose one of 
them attempts to get up. The other insists that he 
lie still ; now arises a struggle ; now comes confusion. 
There was once no confusion among us. We were all 
down and asleep. Now some of us are getting up, 
and the struggle is on ; but who would not rather have 
confusion of getting up than the peace of slumber? 
Rise above adverse circumstances. Be masters of 
circumstances.'* 

Marvelof Ages.— "Talks for the Times" says: "But 
it may be well for us now to take a retrospective view of 
the path we have traveled as freedmen. It is thirty- 
two years since Abraham Lincoln gave to the world 



PRESENT STANDING AND OUTLOOK 015 

his immortal proclamation. For thirty-two years we 
have enjoyed freedom, however imperfect it may have 
been. IJave w^e shown ourselves w'orthy of it? Thanks 
be to God, we are not our own judges! The world 
has sat in judgment upon us. Our friends and our 
enemies have united in the confession that the progress 
of the American Negro under freedom is one of the 
marvels of the age. It has no parallel in the world's 
history. National statistics, statistics of states, reports 
of benevolent organizations, all prove this beyond the 
shadow of a doubt. We have written the last thirty- 
two years of our history in acts. We have done a great 
many things which the philosophers prophesied wc 
could not do. First, it was predicted that we should 
all die out under freedom, and many simple-minded 
people slept soundly on that theory until the census of 
1880 revealed the startling fact that, instead of dying 
out, we are increasing fearfully and wonderfully. ^' 
became evident then that, although wc are a race oi 
idiots and fools, we are not such fools as to live through 
American slavery and die out under American free- 
dom—live, forsooth, when w^e ought to die, and die 
when we ought to live ! No, no, no, wc are not so 
demented as all that, whatever may be the shape and 
thickness of our skulls. 

The Future.— George Williams aptly says: "But 
what of the future? Can the Negro endure the sh-rm 
competition of American civilization:" Can he kv.j. 
his position against the tendencies to amalg;^mation? 
Since it has been proven that the Negro is not dying 
out, but, on the contrary, possesses the powers of rf 
duction to a remarkable degree, a new source of 
has been discovered.. It is said that the Negro wu. 



616 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

perish, will be absorbed by the dominant race ere long ; 
that where races are crossed the inferior race suffers ; 
and that mixed races lack the power to reproduce 
species, and that hence the disappearance of the Negro 
is but a question of time. 

Perished. — Whatever merit this view possessed be- 
fore the war of the Rebellion, it is obsolete imder the 
present organization of society. The environment of 
the Negro, the downward tendencies of his social life, 
and the exposed state in which slave laws left him, have 
all perished. In addition to his aptitude for study and 
capacity for improvement, he is now under the protect- 
ing and restraining influence of congenial climate ; and 
pure sociological laws will impart to his offspring the 
power of reproduction and the ability to maintain an 
excellent social footing with the other races of the 
world. 

Race Prejudice. — Race prejudice is bound to give 
way before the potent influences of character, education 
and wealth. Without wealth there can be no leisure, 
without leisure there can be no thought, and without 
thought there can be no progress. 

Twofold. — The future work of the Negro is twofold ; 
subjective and objective. Years will be devoted to 
his own education and improvement here in America 
He will sound the depths of education, accumulate 
wealth, and then turn his attention to the civilization 
of Africa. The United States will yet establish a line 
of stearaships between this country and the Dark 
Continent. ' Touching at the grain coast, the ivory 
coast, and the gold coast, America will carry the Afri- 
can missionaries. Bibles, papers, improved machinery, 
instead of rum and chains. And Africa, in return, will 
send America indigo, palm-oil, ivory, gold, diamonds, 



PRESENT STANDING AND OUTLOOK. 617 

costly wood, and her richest treasures, instead of slaves. 
Tribes will be converted to Christianity; cities wiW 
rise; states will be founded; geoj^rraphy .and science 
will enrich and enlarge their discoveries ; and a telegraph 
cable binding the heart of Africa to the ear of tlic civil- 
ized world, every throb of joy or sorrow will ])ulsatc 
again in millions of souls. In the interpretation of 
History, the plans of God must be discerned, *'For 
a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday 
when it is passed, and as a watch in the night. " 

Advancement. — Doctor Carroll says: "What he has 
done for himself under great difficulties and discourage- 
ments in the last third of the nineteenth century is a 
splendid prophecy of what he will be in the twentieth 
century. He has quickly learned that superior iX)sition 
is open to him in just the same terms as io any other 
citizen, and that if he would have his superiority rccog- 
nized he must demonstrate it. Prejudice cannot with- 
stand demonstration. It must yield, however, slowly ; 
and colored statesmen, merchants, bankers, lawyers, 
doctors, ministers, educators, will win their way by 
forces which are not an accident of race or color, but 
are developed by culture. 

Difficulties.— The strong, senseless, but galling prej- 
udices which confront the Negro are by no means his 
greatest obstacles to success. There arc ignorance. 
vice and thriftlessness, which, like their opix>site 
virtues, are not confined to a particular race, but beset 
humanity in general. He has shown that he has the 
power to rise above the condition of a slave, and I look 
confidently forward to a brilliant future for hnr. I 
have no idea that he will leave this countr>'. His 
greatest achievements will be here on the soil that is 
as much his as ours. Here are found the conditions 



618 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

which are needed for his development, and here 
he will stay to contribute his share to the pros- 
perity and glory of our great nation. I should expect 
to see a larger immigration from Africa in the twentieth 
century than emigration to Africa. ' ' 

Evangelization.— It is not his duty to evangelize 
Africa. The responsibility for that great work rests 
on Christians in every nation. He will simply take 
his part in it. We inay expect it will be a large part. 
His zeal will be great, his qualifications unquestiona- 
"ble, and we may hope that the redemption of his own 
race in the Dark Continent will stimulate his heartiest 
endeavors and his largest sacrifices. 

Possibilities. — We see in him as a free man excel- 
lencies and possibilities to which slavery made us 
blind. He has struggled against our doubts and fears, 
and has fairly conquered our long-lived, pertinacious 
prejudices. Many, even of those who wanted him to 
be free and gave him their sympathy, had grave mis- 
givings as to his capacity for the highest duties of cit- 
izenship. He has had to prove, since the war, that 
schools and educational processes are of use to him. 
The first teachers who came South to instruct him 
were eagerly questioned as to his ability to learn. 
When this doubt was satisfied, another was expressed : 
Was not his ability to learn exceptional? Was the 
higher education possible to any of his race? We feel 
a sense of shame in simply recounting the historical 
fact ; but it is a fact, and the greatest achievement of 
the Negro of the nineteenth century is in forcing from 
ns the acknowledgment of his large capacity. 

Ability Must Be Recognized. — Professor Booker T. 
Washington says: "The race problem will work itself 
out in proportion as the black man, by reason of his 



Px<ESENT STANDING AND OUTLUUK. 019 

skill, intelligence and character, can produce some- 
thing that the white man wants or respects. One race 
respects another in proportion as it contributes to the 
markets of the world, hence the value of industrial 
training. The black man that has mortgages on a 
dozen white men's homes will have no trouble in vot- 
ing. The black man that spends $10,000 a year in 
freight charges can select his own seat in a railroad 
car, else a Pullman palace car will be put on for him. 
When the black man, by reason of his knowledge of 
the chemistry of the soil and improved methods of agri- 
culture, can produce forty bushels of corn on any acre 
of land, while his white brother produces only twenty 
bushels, the white man will come to the black man to 
learn, and they will be good friends. The black man that 
has $50,000 to lend will never want for friends and 
customers among his white neighbors. It is right and 
important that all the privileges of the Constitution 
should be ours ; but it is vastly more important to us that 
we be prepared for the exercise of these privileges. 
Those who died and suffered on the battle field per- 
formed their duty heroically and well, but a duty 
remains to you and me. The mere fiat of law could 
not make a dependent man an independent man ; could 
not make an ignorant man an intelligent voter; could 
not make one man respect another ; these results come 
to the Negro as to all races, by beginning at the bot- 
tom and gradually working toward the highest civiliza- 
tion and accomplishments. 

Our Passport.— "Tell them that by the way of the 
shop, the field, the skilled hand, habits of thrift and 
economy, by way of industrial school and college, we 
are coming. We are crawling up, working up. yea, 
bursting up. Often through oppression, unjust discnm- 

41 Progress 



620 PROGRESS OF A RACE, 

ination and prejudice, but through them all we are com- 
ing up, and with proper habits, intelligence and 
property, there is no power on earth that can perma- 
nently sta)^ our progress. During the next half century 
and more, my race must continue passing through the 
severe American crucible. We are to be tested in our 
patience, our forbearance, our perseverance, our power 
to endure wrong, to withstand temptations, to econo- 
mize, to acquire and use skill ; our ability to compete, 
to succeed in commerce, to disregard the superficial 
for the real, the appearance for the substance, to be 
great and yet small, learned and yet simple, high and 
yet the servant of all. This — this is the passport to 
all that is best in the life of our republic, and the 
Negro must possess it or be debarred. 

Hopeful and Cheerful Spirit. — "I am exceedingly 
anxious that every colored man and woman should 
keep a hopeful and cheerful spirit as to the future. 
Despite all of our disadvantages and hardships, ever 
since our forefathers set foot upon American soil as 
slaves, our pathway has been marked by progress. 
Think of it ! We went into slavery a piece of property ; 
we came out American citizens. We went into slavery 
without a language ; we came out speaking the proud 
Anglo-Saxon tongue. We went into slavery with 
slave chains about our wrists ; we came out with the 
American ballot in our hands. " 

Be Charitable to the South. — Some of our Northern 
people are very impatient with the manner in which 
the Southerner treats the Negro. 

Let it be known to such that as late as 1831 Miss 
Prudence Crandall, who first admitted a colored girl 
into her school and afterwards established a school for 
colored girls, was subjected to all kinds of inhumani- 



PRESENT STANDING AND OUTLOOK ()21 

ties. Dealers in all sorts of wares and produce aj^reed 
to sell nothing to Miss Crandall, the stage driver 
declined to carry her pupils, neighbors refused a pail 
of fresh water, even though they knew that their own 
sons had filled her well with stable refuse. Boys and 
rowdies were allowed unchecked liberty, and were 
even encouraged to exercise their utmost ingenuity in 
mischievous annoyances. Stones and bad eggs were 
thrown against her windows. Her parents were threat- 
ened with heavy fines for visiting her. Slie was 
arrested and put into jail. Town meetings were held. 
The legislature, upon petition, passed laws against her 
action, the crime being nothing more than teaching a 
dozen Negro girls. Religious services were disturbed, 
efforts were made to set fire to her house, and finally, 
in the darkness of the night, a body of men beat in 
the windows of her house with iron bars. This brave 
woman was then compelled to break up her school, 
and send her pupils home. 

Do you say this was in the Sunny South? No; this 
happened two generations ago in the sober state of 

Connecticut. 

Have Courage.— Let those who think that the Negro 
has no rights that the white man need respect look at 
that picture and then compare it with the unbounded 
enthusiasm and the royal welcome given Booker T. 
Washington at the unveiling of the Shaw monument 

in Boston in 1897. 

Two Generations.-If two generations have maac 
such a change in sentiment, the most despondent 
disheartened may take courage, for prejudice .. 
color is certainly dying out. 

Bishop Duncan once said: "I was born -niong yoi. 
Don't think yourselves as 'colored people,' but thmk 



622 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

about yourselves as those whom God has called to be 
men. I never put in my definition of 'man' the idea 
of color. Be men, and I assure you that lines of long- 
itude will not measure the respect given you. Deter- 
mine that you will solve your own problem by being 
true to the estate to which you are called in these 
latter days. ' ' 

Not in Congress. — The future of the race is not so 
much in Congress and the legislature, as in man him- 
self. While, on the one hand, the white man must 
learn in many cases to treat the colored man as a man, 
on the other hand, nothing will so soon bring about 
the harmony and pleasant feeling desired as the up- 
right conduct of the Negro himself. His progress in 
the past generation has surprised the most sanguine 
and hopeful ones. The solution of the Negro problem 
lies in the same direction. 

Not Imaginary, but Real. — There is a future before 
the race. In the face of many opposing forces, in 
defiance of the predictions of despondent ones, a great 
and useful future lies just beyond. Home life, for no 
people rises higher than its home life, must be pure, 
happy and intelligent. Then will the future waft upon 
its breezes sweet and noble influences and results that 
will touch every phase of the world's life, and bring 
men into sweeter harmony with one another and with 
God. 



CHAPTER XVII. • 

STATISTICS OF THE RACF.. 

AREA AND POPULATION OF THE WORLD. 

Area of thu Worhl 
. in Square Miles. I 

Asia i4,7io,fxx) 

Africa ir,5r4,o<x) i 

North America 6,446,000 

South America 6,837,000 30,420,000 

Australia 3,288,000 4,730.000 

NUMBER OF INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD BY RACKS. 

Caucasian 545.000. • 

Mongolian < 

Negro ?. 

Malay 

Indian 1 5,000. • • 

POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

(Census of 1S90.) 

Total population 62.623, t ■ 

White population : ;. 

African population 7. • 

Pure Africans (>. 

Mulattoes (one-half pure) 

Quadroons (one-quarter pure) ■ 

Octaroons (one-eighth pure) • v jj ■ 

Mississippi contains the largest ninubcr of pure 
Negroes — 657,393; Virginia the next lar^^cst niimlxrr 
— 621,781. Virginia contains the largest numlxir of 
Mulattoes, Quadroons and Octaroons— 122,441 ; Louis- 
iana the next largest number — 90,953. 

MALE AND FEMALE CHILDREN OF SCHO(3L AGE IN 

THE UNITED STATES. 

Total number of white males from 5 to 20 years of age 

inclusive q/^".''-^ 

Colored ; *• • 

Total number white females from 5 to 20 years of age 

inclusive ^'^ '' 

Colored *• " ' 

623 



624 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



POPULATION OF EACH STATE AND TERRITORY IN 
THE UNITED STATES ARRANGED IN 
* ALPHABETICAL ORDER. 

CENSUS OF 1890. 



1 Alabama 

2 Arkansas 

3 Arizona 

4 Connecticut 

5 Colorado 

6 California 

7 Delaware * 

8 District of Columbia.. 

9 Floiida 

10 Georgia 

11 Idaho 

12 Illinois 

13 Indiana 

14 Iowa 

15 Louisiana 

16 Kansas 

17 Kentucky 

18 Maine 

19 Massachusetts 

20 Maryland 

21 Michigan 

22 Minnesota 

23 Missouri 

24 Mississippi 

25 Montana 

26 Nebraska 

27 Nevada 

28 New Hampshire 

29 New Jersey 

30 New Mexico 

31 New York 

32 North Carolina 

33 North Dakota 

34 Ohio 

35 Oklahoma 

36 Oregon 

37 Pennsylvania 

38 Rhode Island 

39 South Carolina 

40 vSouth Dakota 

41 Tennessee 

42 Texas 

43 Utah 

44 Vermont 

45 Virginia 

46 West Virginia 

47 Washington 

48 Wisconsin 

49 Wyoming 

The United States 



Persons 


of Negro 


Descent. 


White. 


*Total 
Popula- 








Males. 


Females. 


Total. 




tion. 


336,997 


341,492 


679,489 


833,718 


1,513,017 


159,014 


150,103 


309,117 


818,752 


1,128,179 


1,173 


184 


1,357 


55,580 


59,620 


5,930 


6,372 


12,302 


733,438 


746,258 


3,602 


2,613 


6,215 


404,468 


412,198 


6,347 


4,975 


11,322 


1,111,672 


1,208,130 


14,455 


13,931 


28,386 


140,066 


168,493 


33,721 


41,851 


75,572 


154,695 


230,392 


83,967 


82,213 


166,180 


224,949 


391,422 


430,072 


428,743 


858,815 


978.357 


1,837,353 


118 


83 


201 


82,018 


84,385 


30,148 


26,880 


57,028 


3,768,472 


3,826,351 


23,523 


21,692 


45,215 


2,146,736 


2,192,404 


5,712 


4,973 


10,685 


1,901,086 


1,911,896 


277,134 


282,059 


559,193 


558,395 


1,118,587 


25,248 


24,462 


49,710 


1,376,553 


1,427,096 


133,547 


134,524 


268,071 


1,590.462 


1,858,635 


614 


576 


1,190 


659,263 


661,086 


10,879 


11,265 


22,144 


2,215,373 


2,238,943 


105,684 


109,972 


215,657 


826,493 


1,042,.390 


7,986 


7,237 


15,223 


2,072,884 


2,093,889 


2,167 


1,516 


3,683 


1,296,159 


1,301,826 


75,336 


74,848 


150,184 


2,528,458 


2,679,184 


372,278 


370,281 


742,559 


544,851 


1,289,600 


1,053 


437 


1,490 


127,271 


132,159 


5,243 


3,670 


8,913 


1,046,888 


1,059,910 


162 


80 


242 


39,084 


45,761 


323 


291 


614 


375,840 


376,530 


23,410 


24,228 


47,638 


1,396,581 


1,444,933 


1,220 


730 


1,956 


142,719 


153,593 


33,503 


36,589 


70,092 


5,923,952 


5,997,853 


275,230 


285,788 


561,018 


1,055,382 


1,617,947 


219 


154 


373 


182,123 


182,719 


45,076 


42,037 


87,113 


3,584,805 


3,672,316 


1,613 


1,360 


2,973 


58,826 


61,834 


743 


443 


1,186 


301,758 


313,767 


54,731 


52,865 


107,596 


5,148,257 


5,258,014 


3,394 


3,999 


7,393 


337,859 


345,500 


341,821 


347,113 


688,934 


462,008 


1,151,149 


363 


17'8 


541 


327,290 


328,808 


213,521 


217,157 


430,678 


1,336,637 


1,767,518 


245,461 


242,710 


488,171 


1,745,935 


2,2.35,523 


392 


196 


588 


205,899 


207,905 


493 


444 


937 


331,418 


332,422 


310,828 


324,610 


635,438 


1,020,122 


1,655,980 


17,991 


14,699 


32,690 


730,077 


762,794 


1,104 


498 


1,602 


340,513 


349,390 


1,363 


1,081 


2,444 


1,680,473 


1,686,880 


652 


270 


922 


59,275 


60,705 


3,725,561 


3,744,479 


7,470,040 


54,983,890 


62,622,350 



*This includes 168,320, Chinese, Japanese, and civilized Indians. 



STATISTICS OF THE RACE. 



6?fi 



POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES. VOTTVn 
AGES— MALES, 21 YEARS AND OVER. 



State or Territory. 



9 
10 

II 

12 

13 
14 

15 
16 

17 

18 

19 
20 

21 

22 

23 
24 

25 
26 

27 
28 

29 
30 
31 
32 

33 

34 

36 

38 

39 
40 

41 

42 

43 



Alabama 

Arizona. 

Arkansas. 

California 

Colorado 

Connecticut. 

Delaware 

District of Columbia. 

Florida, 

Georgia. 

Idaho. 

Illinois 

Indiana, 

Iowa. 

Kansas 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

Maine 

Maryland 

Massachusetts.. . 

Michigan 

Minnesota. 

Mississippi 

Missouri 

Montana 

Nebraska 

Nevada 

New Hampshire. 

New Jersey 

New Mexico 

New York 

North Carolina.., 
North Dakota.... 
Ohio 

Oklahoma 
Oregon 
Pennsylvania. 
Rhode Island, 
South Carolina 
South Dakota 
Tennessee. 



CuU>ro«l. 



184,059 
2 1 , 1 to 

188.20 

390,228 

161,015 

220,1 15 

40,007 

46,159 

58,068 

2 19,09 1 

29.525 

1,054, 4^x; 

58i,9H7 

517,006 

370,688 

3^7,371 
130,748 
200,609 

218.843 
657,042 
611,008 
374,027 
120,61 1 

667,451 
61,984 

297,281 
17,002 

117.889 
398,966 

41,47^ 

1,74^.418 

233.307 

990,542 

18,238 

102,113 

i,426,(/^) 

97.75<J 
102,657 

96,177 
310,014 
434,010 

53.235 



Total. 



140.763 

2.536 
69.572 
72.0<')I 

3.fp5 

3.';76 

7.552 

18.346 

3«.U5 
179,028 

1.0)5 

18,200 

1 3.070 
3.326 

12.543 
63,421 

119.^' 5 
632 

5 1. '"^3 5 
6.437 



3.4"7 
4.219 

3.^>49 
246 

14. ^6j 

3.473 
24.231 

109,34'' 

25.';:- 
«>2 ; 



I32.<ilO 



, p 



47. 



y;8.l22 



M7.44S 



41 ; 



I 



I. 



I« 



1 



I,. 



626 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES— Continued. 



State or Tekeitoky. 



44 

45 
46 

47 
48 

49 



Vermont 

Virginia 

Washington . . 
West Virginia 

Wisconsin 

Wyoming 



White. 



101,369 
248,035 

141,934 
172,198 

459.893 
26,050 



Colored. 



328 

130,747 

4,984 

9,202 

1,829 

994 



Total. 



101,697 
378.782 
146,918 
181,400 
461,722 
27,044 



POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE 

CENSUS YEARS. 

Af^gre^ate 
Census Year. White. Negro. Population. 

1790 3,172,002 757.202 3,929,214 

1800 4,306,446 1,002,037 5,308,483 

I8I0 5,862,166 1,377,808 7,239,881 

1820 7,862,073 1,771.656 9,633,822 

1830 10,537.378 2,328,642 12,866,020 

1840 14,195,805 2,873,648 17,069,453 

1850 19,553,068 3.638,808 23,191,876 

i860 26,922,537 4,441,836 31,443,321 

1870 33.589.377 4,880,009 38,558,371 

1880 43,402,970 6,580,793 50,155.783 

1890 54,983,890 7,470,040 62,622,250 

CONJUGAL CONDITION OF PERSONS OF NEGRO 
DESCENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

(Census of 1890.) 

Single 4,669,513 

Married 2,363,231 

Widowed 411,888 

Divorced 15,90? 

Unknown 9. 5oi 

Total '. '. 7,470,040 

CONJUGAL CONDITION OF PERSONS OF NEGRO 
DESCENT TWENTY YEARS OF AGE AND OVER. 

Males. Females. Total. 

Single 424,552 271,224 695,776 

Married 1,171,671 1,122,619 2,294,290 

Widowed 91,633 317,893 409,526 

Divorced 5,i99 10,391 I5,590 

Unknown 4i4o8 4.563 8,971 



STATISTICS OF THE KACE. Crf 

ILLITERATE POPULATION OF NEGRO DESCENT '. 
^EARS OF AGE AND OVER. ' 

Males 

Females ' 

Total I" . 

3. -;- 

Total Negro population of the United States ten ycani 
of age and over 



5. 



SKETCH OF THE NEGRO 1\ THK UMTI.I) STAIKS. 

Occupations. — In 1890 out of a total population of 62,. 
000,000, 34 per cent, were eng-agcd in gainful o 
lions; of the Negroes, numbering 7,500,000, 3. 
or 41 per cent, were engaged in gainful occ: . 
The proportion was much greater than with the t' ' 
population. According to the statistics of 1890, the ni...- 
Negroes were slightly more occupied than were the 
native whites, while among the female Negroes, the 
proportion of wage earners was much greater. Out 
of every 100 native whites, all pursuing gainful 
pations, 85 were males and 15 were females; out ul 
every 100 Negroes, 69 were males and 31 females. A 
larger proportion of women pursued gainful o- 
tions among the Negroes than among the whites, uf 
the male Negro wage earners, more than three 
were farmers, and a little less than one-fourth w» 
servants; of the females, less than one-half w- • 
farmers, and more than one-half were scr\'ants. T: 
large proportion of female Negro farmers was dot:. ; 
less made up principally of women and female children 
employed in the cotton fields. 

Ownership of Farms and Homes.— The statistics of 
farm and home ownership and mortgaged in ' ' 
throw some light upon the pecuniar)- condiHuu ui : 
Negro. The total number of farms and homes in • 
country in 1890 was a little more than twelve : 



628 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

of which the Negroes occupied nearly one and a half 
millions. The proportion of Negroes of the total pop- 
ulation at that time was about 12 per cent., showing 
a deficiency in the proportion occupying farms and 
homes. The number of farms in the country was 
4,767,179; of these 549,642 were occupied by Negroes. 
The number of homes in the country was 7,922,973, 
of which 861,137 were occupied by Negroes. 

Tenants. — Of the farms occupied by Negroes, 120,- 
738 were owned by the occupants; more than three- 
fourths of the farms occupied by Negroes were rented. 
In other words, more than three-fourths of the Negro 
farmers were tenants, while less than one-fourth of the 
white farmers were tenants. Of farms owned by 
Negroes, more were without indebtedness than those 
owned by whites ; of houses owned by Negroes, 126,264 
were free from incumbrance, showing a greater pro- 
portion of homes without indebtedness than among 
the whites. 

Summary. — In summing up the principal points, it 
is seen that in the matter of occupation the Negro is 
engaged in agriculture or personal service; he has 
made little progress in a generation in manufacture, 
transportation or trade. This could certainly not be 
expected of the first generation out of slavery. The 
Negro has, during this generation, however, made 
good prospects toward acquiring property, especially 
in farms and homes, and in just so far as they have 
acquired possession of real estate it is safe to say they 
have become more valuable citizens. The outlook for 
them is very favorable as agriculturists, but it will 
require considerable time for them to become an im- 
portant factor in manufacture, transportation or com- 
merce. 



STATISTICS OF THE RACE. 629 

Distribution of the Negro Race.— Xcj^-ocs arc dis- 

tributed very unequally all over the country; while 
they are found in every state and tcrritor)', and in 
almost every county in the land, the vast body of thcra 
are found in the Southern states, in those states lying 
south of the Mason and Dixon line and the Ohio River, 
to the north boundary of Missouri, and westward as 
far as Texas. They arc most plentiful in Maryland, 
Virginia, South Carolina and ^lississippi, and secondary 
in North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and 
Louisiana. In the Northern and Western states they 
are very sparsely distributed, with scarcely an excep- 
tion, being less than four of them t'> a scjuare mile, 
while in many places there is less than one to a square 
mile. 

The Negroes in Cities. — The tendency, as a popula- 
tion of a country increases, is that the increase 
constantly raises the proportion of the population in 
the cities. The proportion of the Negroes in the cities 
has, however, been less than that of the whites, but 
they have gained upon the w^hites in this regard. 

NEGROES IN THE SLAVE STATES. 

Delaware.— In Delaware, the proportion of Negroes 
in 1790 was about 22 per cent. This proi:K)rti()n in- 
creased greatly until 1840; since then it has diminished. 
and in 1890 was about 17 per cent. 

In Maryland over one-third of tlie population were 
Negroes in 1790, and in 1810 it had increased to 38 per 
cent. ; in 1890 it was but 21 per cent. 

District of Columbia.— Here the proportion ut 
Neo-roes in 1800 was about 29 percent.; in 1S60 the 
proportion was 19 per cent. During the war many 
Negroes took refuge within the capital, smcc which 
time it is about one-third of the total population. 



630 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

In Kentucky one-sixth of the population were 
Negroes in 1790; in 1830 it was about one-fourth; at 
present it is about 14 per cent., less than one-sixth. 

In Tennessee one-tenth of the population were 
Negroes in 1790; in 1880 it was a little more than one- 
fourth, since which time it has diminished a trifle. 

Missouri had about one-sixth of its inhabitants 
Negroes when the first record was given. It has 
diminished rapidly, and in 1890 it was less than one- 
sixteenth of the population. 

Virginia. — In 1790 the Negroes constituted not less 
than two-fifths of the inhabitants. The proportion 
increased until 18 10, and in 1890 it was little more 
than one-fourth. 

All of the above are border states, and show a sim- 
ilar history, excepting Tennessee and the District of 
Columbia; the remaining show a different history. 

North Carolina started in 1790 with 27 percent., 
and has increased slowly until it reached 38 per cent. 

South Carolina started with 44 per cent., and in 
1880 more than three-fifths of the population were 
Negroes ; since then there has been a trifling decrease. 

Georgia started with :^6 per cent., and continued to 
increase until 1880, since when there has been a slight 
reduction. 

Florida began with 47 per cent, of the population 
Negroes, but in the last decade has been diminishing 
rapidly. 

Alabama commenced with one-third of her people 
Negroes, and increased until 1870; since then there 
has been a decrease. 

Mississippi began with 41 per cent, of her people 
Negroes, and has increased up to the present time. 

Louisiana began with 55 per cent, but on the whole 



STATISTICS OF THIC RACE. G31 

diminished, and in 1890 one-half of the people were 

Negroes. 

Texas began in 1850, when 28 per cent, of her people 
were Negroes, and increased to 31 per cent., and then 
decreased rapidly, largely due to immigration to the 
central part of the state. 

Arkansas began when a little less than onc-cij;hih 
of its people were Negroes. In 1 890 the Negroes formed 
more than one-fourth of the total population. 

Conclusions. — This indicates in a general way the 
southward migration of the race to the cotton stales, 
and an increase until in the recent past. 

Conjugal Condition. — Comparing the conjugal con- 
dition of the Negroes with those of the whites there 
are two points of difference : First, the Negroes marr)* 
younger than the whites, and second, the pro]X)rtion of 
widows at most ages is greater than among the whites. 
The first is in accord with a shorter life period of the 
race, and the second is a result of a greater death rate 
in the race. 

Statistics of divorce show more frequent div 
among the Negroes than among the whites. 

Mortality.— The rate of mortality among the Negro 
population is considerably greater than among the 
whites; it is, however, difficult to obtain an accurate 
record of the relative death rates of the two races. In 
some of the larger cities the death rate is very nearly 
if not quite double that of the native white '^he rural 
districts seem to show that the disproporuuii among 
the death rates is not so great as it is in the larger 

cities. 

Criminality.— The proportion of criminals ar 
the Negroes is much greater than among the wl 
The last census shows that the proportion of :. :s 



632 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

was only tour times as great as the whites. It should, 
however, be kept in mind that the statistics include 
among its criminal class the commitments of Negroes 
for petty offenses, which with that race is a greater 
offense in proportion than among the whites. 

Paupers. — No investigations have been made among 
these persons receiving out door relief either perma- 
nently or temporarily. The census reports are of those 
who receive aid from alms houses. As these are not 
found in large numbers in the South the Negro 
paupers, compared with the whites, cannot be accur- 
ately stated. 

Illiteracy and Education. — There has been a remark- 
able increase of the race in the elements of education. 
During the prevalence of slavery this race was kept in 
ignorance; indeed, generally throughout the South, 
it was held as a crime to teach the Negro to read and 
write, and naturally, when they became freedmen, 
only a trifling proportion of them were acquainted 
with the elements of education. Five years after they 
became free, the census shows that only two-tenths of 
all Negroes over ten years could write. Ten years 
later the proportion had increased to three-tenths, and 
in 1890, only a generation after they were emanci- 
pated, not less than forty-three out of every one hun- 
dred were able to read and write. These figures show 
a rapidly increasing progress in elementary education. 
In i860 the number of Negroes who were enrolled in 
the schools of the South was trifling. Since the aboli- 
tion of slavery the number has increased with great 
rapidity. 

Summary. — The following conclusions may be stat- 
ed from the preceding investigations. The Negroes, 
without increasing rapidly in this country, are dimin- 



STATISTICS OF THE RACE. 033 

ishing in numbers relative to the whites. They arc 
moving southward from the border states into those 
of the South Atlantic and Gulf states. They prefer 
the country rather than the city life. The ])ro])()rti()n 
of criminals is much greater than amonj.^ the whites, 
and the paupers at least as great, and the indications 
are the number of attendants at school is far behind 
the number of whites, but is rapidly gaining ujMjn the 
race. To raise a people from slaver}- to civilization is 
a matter, not of years, but of many generations. Their 
industry, morality and education is a source of highest 
gratification to all friends of the race excepting those 
who expected a miraculous conversion. 

Colored Physicians. — It is difficult to give the exact 
number of colored physicians in our country. Of 
course, in the term "colored physicians" we include 
only those who have received diplomas from reputable 
medical schools. The first attempt ever made to 
compile a list of these was made by Dr. Hubbard. 
Dean of Meharry Medical College, through whose 
kindness we are enabled to give the following table. 
This table was first compiled at the close of 1895. ^^^ 
there is probably no one who would be able to give 
more accurate statistics concerning colored physicians 
than Dr. Hubbard. We have added one column, 
bringing the list up to 189.7, and have made it as com- 
plete as possible. The numbers in the last column arc 
given bv officers of the different institutions, and 
include all the graduates in medicine, dentistr>- and 
pharmacy, while the remaining table gives only the 
graduates in medicine who practice in the Southern 
states : 



634 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 





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CO 
CO 

<X> 

a 
a 

H 

51 
1 

'2 
1 

55 


S3 

Eh 

55 
2 

'g 

1 
1 

65 


>• 

12 
9 

'2 

23 


03 

a 

b£ 

•fH 

t> 

CC 

• • 

"2 

2 


OS 
00 

• 

u 

<a 

Q 

C3 



H 

210 
C4 

51 
19 
24 
27 

385 


Total No. Graduates 
Oct. 1, 1897. 


Meharry Medical College 


379 


Howard University 

L/eonard Medical School.. 


500 
102 


New Orleans University 


27 


Louisville National 










20 

8 

53 


49 


Other Collecres 


4 
13 


3 
22 


1 
11 


4 
39 




Total 









The following institutions have been established for 
the education of colored physicians : 

The Medical Department of Howard University, 
Washington, D. C. , was established in 1868, and has, 
we are informed by the secretary, graduated about 
500 colored and 200 white students. This includes the 
medical, dental and pharmaceutical departments. 

Meharry Medical College is the medical department 
of Central Tennessee College, Nashville. It was 
opened in 1876, and has had 308 graduates in medi- 
cine, 40 in pharmacy, and 31 in dentistry. The med- 
ical department has been in operation 21 years, the 
dental department 11, and the pharmaceutical 8. 
Over one-half of the colored physicians of the South, 
are graduates of Meharry Medical College. Ninety- 
two per cent, of the graduates of this medical college 
are practicing medicine. Meharry is under the care 
of the Freedman's Aid and Southern Educational 
Society of the M. E. Church. 

Leonard Medical College, of Shaw University, 
Raleigh, North Carolina, has had 80 graduates in 
medicine, and 22 in pharmacy. Leonard Medical Col- 



STATISTICS OF THE RACE. <VAr> 

lege is supported by the Baptist Home Mission.^r^• 
Society. 

The Louisville National Medical CcjUcj^^c was opened 
in 1888, and in 1897 had 49 graduates. 

The Medical Department of New r)rlcans Univer- 
sity was organized in 1889. Twenty-seven Xcg^rocs 
have received diplomas from this department. It is 
under the care of the same society as Meharry Medical 
College. 

The Medical Department of Knoxvillc College was 
opened in November, 1895. 

There are about one thousand colored physicians in 
the United States, of which number Nasliville has 
twenty-three. 

The first female student in the world who received 
a diploma in law was Miss C. B. Ray, a c(ilnred lady 
of New York city. She graduated at Howard Univer- 
sity, Washington, D. C. 

Doctor Hubbard bears testimony to the fact that the 
colored physicians are kindly received by all the best 
Southern white physicians. The white physicians find 
the colored practice is not desirable, and since such 
institutions as Meharry arc able to come up to the 
standard, they are welcomed by the profession. The 
colored physicians undergo the same examinations as 

the whites. 

Three counties in Tennessee — Fayette, Haywood 
and Shelby— have more colored persons than white. 

The colored scholastic population (^f Tennessee is 
176,614, while the daily attendance will average 

According to the latest census report, there arc 
3,115 deaf and dumb and 7,060 blind Afro-Americans 
in this country. 

42 Progress 



636 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



The Bureau of Education furnishes the following 
suggestive table : 

SIXTEEN FORMER SLAVE STATES AND THE DIS- 
TRICT OF COLUMBIA. 



Year. 



1876-77. 
1877-78. 
1878-79. 
1879-80. 
1880-81, 
1881-82. 
1882-83. 
1883-84. 
1884-85. 
1885-86. 
1886-87. 
1887-88. 
1888-89. 
1889-90. 
1890-91. 
1891-92. 
1892-93. 
1893-94. 



Com. School. 
White. 



1,827,139 
2,034,946 
2,013,684 

2,215,674 
2,234,877 
2,249,263 
2,370,110 
2,546,448 
2,676,911 
2,773,145 

2,975,773 
3,110,606 

3,197,830 
3,402,420 
3,570,624 

3,607,549 
3,697,899 

3,835,593 



Enrollment. 
Colored. 



571,506 

675,150 

685,942 

784,709 

802,374 

802,982 

817,240 

1,002,313 

1,030,463 

1,048,659 

1,118,556 

1,140,405 

1,213,092 

1,296,959 

1,329,549 

1.354,316 

1,367,515 

1,424,995 



Expenditures. 
(Both Races.) 



^11,231,073 
12,093,091 
12,174,141 
12,678,685 
13,656,814 
15,241,740 
16,363,471 
17,884,558 
19,253,874 
20,208,113 
20,821,969 
21,810,158 
23,171,878 
24,880,107 
26,690,310 
27,691,488 

28,535,738 
29,170,351 



Total amount expended in 18 years $353,557,559 



CRIME, PAUPERISM, AND BENEVOLENCE. 

The following is taken from the census report of 
1890. It is interesting to compare the numbers of 
the different races: 





Prison- 
ers. 


Juvenile 
Offend- 
ers. 


Paupers. 


Inmates 

of 
Benevo- 
lent Insti- 
tutions. 


Insane 
Paupers. 


Total. 


White 

Negroes 

Indians 

Chinese 

Japanese 


57.310 

24,277 

322 

407 

13 

82,329 


12,903 

1,930 

12 

I 


66,578 

6,418 

36 

13 


106,836 
4,102 

923 
41 

8 


55.053 
3,601 

28 
184 


298,680 
40,328 

1,321 

646 

21 


14,846 






Total 


73.045 


111,910 


58.866 


340,996 



STATISTICS OF THE RACE. 



031 



COMMON SCHOOL STATISTICS CLASSIFIi:!) UY 

RACE— 1894-95. 

Enrolled in the Public Schools of sixteen Southern ^.Uiits ;i:;<l 
District of Columbia. 



Alabama 

Arkansas 

Delaware- 

Dist.of Columbia. 

Florida 

Georgia 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

Maryland 

Mississippi 

Missouri 

North Carolina, .. 
South Carolina . . . 

Tennessee 

Texas 

Virginia 

West Virginia 



Total , 



White. 



190,305 

216,863 

28,316 

26,903 

59.503 
262,530 
394, 50S 

92,613 
161,252 
162,830 
612,37s 

242,572 
103,729 
381,632 

463,888 

235,533 
210,059 

3,845,414 



Colored. 

115.709 
82,429 

4.S57 
i4/)54 

37.272 

174.152 
73.463 
63.313 
43.492 

i87,7«5 

32,199 
128,318 

119,292 

101,524 

134,720 

120,453 

7.649 

1,441. 2-^ -• 



\\ 



4.41- 
5.124 

734 

2.151 

5.827 

J^.57^ 
2.5ot) 

3.797 
4.59> 



I 



'■>> 
' .'II 
6,o<>6 

.),276 



^ w '^ 

3 - 

> ■ > : » 

716 

3.2' J 



i.^'.O 

I. /'> 

2.5<'2 

a.oSi 
233 



27 



There are 1,441,282 Afro-Americiin children in t' 
public schools of the sixteen Southern states. T 
is an encouraging showing. A generation .'.. 
it was a penitentiary offense in all the vSouth to cduc.t 
an Afro-American. 

SCHOOLS FOR THE EDUCATION OF THE COI.ORKI) RACE. 

The following are the latest statistics of sch(K)ls v^v 
the education of the colored race taken from t'.- 
report of the Commissioner of Education for the v- 
1895. Since many of them are controlled by chir 
we give them under the heads of the different chiirrV. 
supporting and controlling them. 

We give the institution, its location, and the numU r 
of students in each. 



638 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

BAPTISTS. 

Students. 

Selma University, Selma, Alabama 218 

Arkansas Baptist College, Little Rock, Ark 390 

Arkadelphia Academy, Arkadelphia, Ark 90 

Wayland Seminary, Washington, D. C 161 

Florida Institute, Live Oak, Fla 136 

Jerual Academy, Athens, Ga 250 

Atlanta Baptist Seminary, Atlanta, Ga 141 

Spelman Ladies' Seminary, Atlanta, Ga 630 

Walker Baptist Institute, Augusta, Ga 190 

La Grange Academy, La Grange, Ga 425 

Leland University, New Orleans, La 157 

Jackson College, Jackson, Miss 1 50 

Shaw University, Raleigh, N. C 362 

Shiloh University, Warrenton, N. C 60 

Water's Normal Institute, Winston, N. C 215 

Benedict College, Columbia, S. C 135 

Roger Williams University, Nashville, Tenn 224 

Hearne Academy and Normal and Industrial School, Hearne, 

Tex 76 

Bishop College, Marshall, Tex 360 

Richmond Theological Seminary, Richmond, Va 185 

Curry College, Longfield, Va 95 

Hartshorn Memorial College, Richmond, Va 1 1 1 

Storer's College, Harpers Ferry, W. Va 143 

Total number of students in Baptist Schools 4556 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL. 

Central Alabama Academy, Huntsville, Ala 130 

Philander, Smith College, Little Rock, Ark 312 

Shorter University, Arkadelphia, Ark 82 

Cookman Institute, Jacksonville, Fla 269 

Emerson Home for Ladies, Oklahoma, Fla 50 

Payne Institute, Augusta, Ga 250 

Gammon School of Theology, Atlanta, Ga 86 

Clark University, So. Atlanta, Ga 341 

Gilbert Academy, and Industrial College, Baldwin, La 170 

New Orleans University, New Orleans, La 603 

Morgan College, Baltimore, Md 93 

Rush University, Holly Springs, Miss 23a 



STATISTICS OF THE RACK. 630 



Meridian Academy, Meridian, Miss 

G. R. Smith College, Sedalia, Mo 

Bennett College, Greensboro, N. C ^'^^ 

Browning Industrial Home, Camden, S. C 

Allen University, Columbia, S. C 375 

Morristown Normal Academy, Morristown, Tcnn 312 

Central Tennessee College, Nashville, Tenn.. Including? Mc- 
harry Medical College, the number in attendance at this 

school for 1900 and igoi 77 

Wiley University, Marshall, Tex ^«H4 



> 



Total number of students in Methodist Episcopal Schools. $084 

UNITED PRESHYTERIAN. 

Knoxville College, Knoxville, Tenn 312 

Norfolk Mission College, Norfolk, Va f^cn 

Total number of students enrolled in United I'rcsby- 
terian Schools 9' - 

EPISCOPAL. 

St. Paul Normal and Industrial School, Lawrcnccville. Va.. 256 
Bishop Payne's Divinity and Industrial School, Petersburg. 

Va J \ 

Total number of students in Episcopal Schools 264 

AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL. 

Edward Walter's College, Jackson, Miss • "^ 

Morris Brown College, Atlanta, Ga • • 

Wilberforce University, Wilberforce, ( ) 3^5 

Paul Quinn College, Waco, Tex '25 

Total number of students in A. M. E. Scliools 1073 

CHRISTIAN. 

Christian Bible School, Louisville, Ky ^6 

Southern Christian Institute, Edwards, Miss . 95 

Franklinton Christian College, Franklmton. N. C _^ •• " 

Total number of students in Christian Schools 2C1 

A. M. E. ZION. 

Livingston College, Salisbur>% N. C 



640 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

PRESBYTERIAN. Students. 

Stillman Institute, Tuscaloosa, Ala 30 

Hayne's Normal and Industrial School, Augusta, Ga 495 

Biddle University, Charlotte, N. C 260 

Scolia Seminary for Ladies, Concord, N.C 284 

Albion Academy, and Normal School, Franklinton, N. C. .. 311 

Lincoln University, Pennsylvania 196 

Harbison University, Beaufort, S. C 105 

Brainard Institute, Chester, S. C 151 

Ingleside Ladies' Seminary, Burkeville, Va no 

Total number of students in Presbyterian Schools 1942 

FRIENDS. 

Southland College, Southland, Ark 179 

Freedman's Normal Institute, Maryville, Tenn 201 

Total number of students in Friends' Schools 380 

ROMAN CATHOLIC. 

St. Augustin Ladies' Academy, Lebanon, Ky 76 

Mt. Carmel Convent, New Liberia (no report.) 

CONGREGATIONALISTS. 

Trinity Normal Schools, Athena, Ala 268 

Lincoln Normal Schools, Marion, Ala 230 

Burrell College, Selma, Ala 276 

Talladega College, Talladega, Ala 581 

Orange Park Normal and Manual Training School, Orange 

Park, Fla loi 

Knox Institute, Athens, Ga 244 

Storr's College, Atlanta, Ga 272 

Dorchester Academy, Mcintosh, Ga 393 

Ballard Normal School, Macon, Ga 443 

Allen Normal and Industrial School, Thomasville, Ga 185 

Chandler Ladies' Normal School, Lexington, Ky 245 

Straight University, New Orleans, La 569 

Tougaloo University, Tougaloo, Miss 377 

Lincoln Academy, King's Mountain, N. C 198 

Gregory Normal Institute, Wilmington, N.C 360 

Avery Normal Institute, Charleston, S. C 410 

Brewer Normal School, Greenwood, S. C 231 

Warren Institute, Jonesboro, Tenn 113 



STATISTICS OF THE RACE. GU 

_, , TT . Student*. 

Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn 

Tillotson College, Austin, Tex 

Total number of students in Congregatioualist SchooU. 

NON-SECTARIAN. 

Calhoun Colored School, Calhoun, Ala _': t 

State Normal School, Montgomery, Ala 

State Normal and Industrial School, Normal, Ala 

Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, Tuskegec, Ala.. 1211 

Arkansas Normal College, Pine Bluff, Ark 

State College for Colored Students, Dover, Del 01 

Howard University, Washington, D. C 

Normal School, Washington, D. C jo 

High School, Washington, D, C — 

State Normal and Industrial School, Tallahassee, Fla ,.. 

Georgia State Industrial College, College, Ga 500 

Beech Institute, Savannah, Ga (no record) 

Atlanta University, Atlanta, Ga yto 

Haven Normal Academy, Waynesboro, Ga 

Roswell Public School, Roswell, Ga 2r.j 

West Broad Street School, Athens, Ga 

Sumner High School, Cairo, 111 26 

Governor High School, Evansville, Ind 

Scribner High School, New Albany, Ind 

Berea College, Berea, Ky : 

State Normal School, Frankfort, Ky 

Central High School, Louisville, Ky 

Paris Colored High School, Paris, Ky 

Southern University, New Orleans, La 

Alexandria Academy, Alexandria, La (no report) 

Baltimore City High School, Baltimore, Md 1 40 

Baltimore Normal School, Hebbvillc, Md 

Industrial Home for Girls, Melvale, I^Id 

Princess Anne Academy, Princess Anne, Md. 

Mount Hermon Female Seminary, Clinton, Miss 

State Colored Normal School, Holly Springs. Miss.^ 
Alcorn Agricultural School and Medical College. W^ 

Miss 

Douglas High School, Hannibal, Mo 

Lincoln Institute, Jefferson City. Mo 



642 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Students. 

Lincoln High School, Kansas City, Mo loo 

Hale's College, Mill Springs, Mo 73 

Colored Normal and Industrial Schools, Bordentown, N. J. . 109 

Ashboro Normal School, Ashboro, N. C 190 

Washburn Seminary, Beaufort, N. C 161 

Clinton Normal School, Clinton, N. C 75 

State Colored Normal School, Elizabeth City, N. C 1 1 1 

State Colored Normal School, Fayetteville, N. C 106 

State Colored Norman School, Franklintown, N. C 256 

State Colored Normal School, Goldsboro, N. C 105 

Agricultural and Mechanic College, for the colored race, 

Greensboro, N. C 187 

Whitin Normal School, Lumberton, N. C 81 

Barrett Collegiate and Industrial Institute, Pee Dee, N. C. . 180 

State Colored Normal School, Plymouth, N. C 180 

City High School, Reedsville, N.C 811 

State Colored Normal School, Salisbury, N. C 10 1 

Rankin-Richards Institute, Windsor, N. C no 

Scofield Normal and Industrial School, Aikin, S. C 223 

Wallingford Academy, Charleston, S. C 221 

Claflin University, Orangeburg, S. C 570 

Beaufort Academy, Beaufort, S. C 388 

Penn Industrial and Normal School, Frogmore, S. C. ....'. . 276 

Austin High School, Knoxville, Tenn 307 

Hannibal Medical College, Memphis, Tenn 7 

LeMoyne Normal Institute, Memphis, Tenn 620 

Meig's High School, Nashville, Tenn 584 

Bradley Academy, Murphysboro, Tenn 342 

Mary Allen Seminary, for Ladies, Crockett, Tenn 232 

Central High School, Galveston, Tex 250 

Prairie View Normal Institute, Prairie View, Tex 207 

East End High School, Brenham, Tex 448 

Hampton Normal Institute, Hampton, Va 10 17 

Public High School, Manchester, Va 50 

Peabody School, Petersburg, Va 715 

Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute, Petersburg, Va. . 331 

Valley Training School, Staunton, Va 41 

West Virginia Colored Institute, Farm, Va 78 

Manasas Industrial School, Manasas, Va 'j'j 



STATISTICS OF THK RACE. 



C13 



The following table, abstracted from the census 
lications, shows the number of Negroes in all < 
lions and in each of the five groups of occupati 
sex and by states and territories: 



States or Tekritouy. 



The United States, 



Alabama 

Alaska 

Arizona 

Arkansas 

California 

Colorado 

Connecticut 

Delaware 

District of Columbia . . . 

Florida 

Georgia 

Idaho 

Illinoi3 

Indiana 

Iowa 

Kansas 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

Maine 

Maryland 

Massachusetts 

Michigan 

Minnesota 

Mississippi 

Missouri 

Montana 

Nebraska 

Nevada 

New Hampbhire 

New Jersey 

New Mexico 

New York 

North Carolina 

North Dakota 

Ohio 

Oklahoma 

Oregon — _ 

Pennsylvania 

Rhode Island 

South Carolina 

South Dakota 

Tennessee 

Texas 

Utah 

Vermont 

"Virginia 

Washington 

West Virginia.: 

Wiscousip 

Wynmipg 



All Oc.Mi. 
patiuuri. 



Mai 08. 



2,101,233 



Females. 



971.HIK) 



192,322 

1,091 
86.861 
4.301 
2.76.-) 
4,064 
9,334 
21,238 
46,302 
246,913 
83 
19,270 
14,648 
3,615 
13,889 
76,411 
159,180 
409 
63,1K6 
7,593 
5,065 
1,719 
198,531 
43,940 
971 
3,741 
130 
242 
16,143 
888 
23,272 
148,370 
146 
28,085 
958 
536 
37,534 
2,337 
186,714 
284 
121,016 
123,395 
29H 
322 
169,343 
9U2 
11,478 
855 
563 



AKricnlluri'.l. 

Fi-liiTi'M .ml 

Milling. 

Males. ' ft:.. 
l,32«.rrfU I 4JT 



101,085 

71 
30,115 
1,041 
7'fJ 
l.'.HJl 
3,016 
18,770 
19.071 
122,3.52 
23 
4.713 
4,210 
730 
3,40() 
31.255 
83,978 
145 
32.642 
3,435 
1,329 
383 
105,306 
16,715 
140 
959 
22 
107 
7,73.s 
1.56 
13,6f.4 
68,220 
23 
7,791 
125 

«nt 

15,704 

l,3f.2 

102, .^:{<'. 

43 

44,701 

46,691 

51 

109 

71,752 

2,623 

2tl5 

75 



I4i;,:«')i 

29 

6H.219 

l.OM 

IMJ 

879 

4.157 

&53 

23.6WJ 

172,4l«l 

16 

4.32S 

3,273 

973 

4.171 

3s,4.".6 

lll.VAl 

KU 

29,5 ir. 

till! 

l,4.^- 

72 

167. inC) 

15,757 

41 

242 

41 

tUl 

4.1tV. 

nvi 

lu^.i... 

('■•■•1 

II » 

4.rtf'- 

14'.'. . 

.H.1 

72.31'-. 

K..-J» 

'-1 

112 

9.1 T ! ' 

4.('.«" 

141 



6*.. 12.1 , l.«7l 



lO.Ofiy 

14 

4 

1 

:ti 
1'. 

7.6J<.t 

W,U73 

1 

1S4 

S7 

U 

no 

1 



71 



77.925 
324 



3 
1 

2\» 



S 

7S 



2,1. 






1.' 






' rj.M" 




1 

10,1&4 

i 

50 

4 


i 

1 ri 


'.^ 



.9 

i.-l 



291 
SI 
U 
lO 



II 



4 

m 

I 









»n 
s 

ea 

11 

1 



644 



PKOGRESS OF A RACE. 



Table showing the number of Negroes in all occu- 
pations, etc. — Continued- 



State or Tereitory. 



The United States... 

Alabama 

Alaska 

Arizona 

Arkansas 

California 

Colorado 

Connecticut 

Delaware 

District of Columbia 

Florida 

Georgia 

Idaho 

Illinois 

Indiana 

Iowa 

Kansas 

Kentucky 

Louisiana.. 

Maine 

Maryland , 

Massachusetts 

Michigan , 

Minnesota 

Mississippi 

Missouri , 

Montana 

Nebraska 

Nevada , 

New Hampshire , 

New Jersey 

New Mexico 

New York 

North Carolina , 

North Dakota 

Ohio 

Oklahoma 

Oregon 

Pennsylvania 

Rhode Island 

South Carolina 

South Dakota , 

Tennessee 

Texas 

Utah 

Vermont 

Virginia 

"Washington 

West Virginia 

Wisconsin 

Wyoming 



Domestic or Per- 
sonal Service. 



Males. 



457,426 



25,426 

1,034 

11,226 

2,316 

1,702 

1,925 

3,631 

12,680 

13,299 

39,294 

57 

10,865 

7,950 

1,966 

6,898 

22,649 

31,609 

174 

21,014 

4,296 

2,495 

1,286 

17,209 

18,899 

815 

2,743 

67 

81 

7,715 

651 

13,151 

20,580 

90 

14,814 

231 

328 

22,505 

1,161 

18,554 

115 

25,606 

23,360 

248 

143 

39,425 

480 

3,515 

481 

313 



Females. 



505,898 



30,380 

67 

10,506 

897 

715 

1,781 

2,878 

16,734 

10,421 

65,025 

21 

4,061 

3,849 

672 

3,077 

28,916 

31,292 

128 

30,406 

2,914 

1,102 

315 

25,729 

15,614 

122 

881 

18 

84 

7,339 

150 

12,445 

31,393 

22 

6,955 

102 

81 

14,297 

1,169 

26.213 

35 

30,333 

24,840 

48 

102 

55,941 

134 

2,462 

161 

71 



Trade and 
Transportation. 



Males 



143,350 



9,147 

13 

2,787 

457 

406 

634 

633 

4,776 

4,106 

16,397 

8 

1,994 

1,426 

289 

1,148 

7,381 

6,045 

68 

7,538 

1,402 

448 

216 

5.671 

4,862 

45 

323 

17 

24 

2,111 

40 

4,231 

7,564 

10 

3,027 

28 

42 

5,213 

546 

6,860 

121 

10,954 

6,386 

14 

83 

15,655 

69 

2,080 

74 

31 



Females. 



2,399 



140 



27 
3 
5 

7 
21 

195 
52 

372 

41 

23 

1 

20 

66 

129 

2 

144 

34 

6 

5 

74 

44 

1 

4 

1 

25 

54 

106 

40 
1 
1 

104 
3 

188 
1 

125 

69 

1 

253 

7 
1 
3 



Manufacturing 

and Mechanical 

Industries. 



Males. 



146,126 



9,917 

12 

3,403 

358 

402 

565 

816 

2,839 

4,501 

16,604 

2 

1 ,602 

1,669 

309 

1,315 

6,.519 

8,455 

55 

4,458 

1,132 

549 

88 

5,686 

3,525 

45 

370 

5 

72 

1,864 

24 

2,288 

12,114 

4 

8,426 

42 

37 

4,630 

322 

9,842 

14 

10,404 

5,794 

14 

31 

18,864 

87 

927 

105 

20 



Females. 



26,929 

951 

4 

275 

106 

55 

165 

51 

1,490 

746 

1,924 

1 

361 

175 

85 

124 

840 

2,774 

11 

1,074 

428 

137 

48 

803 

396 

13 

64 

2 

23 

263 

3 

1,005 

2,360 

1 

442 

2 

10 

1,077 

170 

2,341 

4 

1,141 

461 

2 

6 

4,483 

15 

41 

28 



STATISTICS OF THE RACE. C45 

TOTAL ILLITERATE POPULATION OF PER OP 
NEGRO DESCENT IN THE UNITED STATL.S 
TEN YEARS OF AGE AND OVH R EN- 
GAGED IN OCCUPATIONS. 

Mule. Female. T ' ' 

Agriculture, Fishing and Mining, 915,452 318,331 1.23-,. 7*3 

Professional services 1,559 *5i i,(*40 

Domestic and Personal Services, 221,003 303.591 S34,5(>4 

Trade and Transportation 62,349 1,018 di.v," 

Manufacturing and Mechanical 

Industries 64,099 7,947 73,048 

In all occupations 1,264,462 630,970 1.895.43a 

POPULATION FOR CITIES HAVING 50.000 INHABIT- 
ANTS OR MORE— i8c/5. 

Cities. White. Colorod. 

New York, N. Y 1,489,627 25.674 

Chicago, 111 1,084.998 >4.SSa 

Philadelphia, Pa 1,006,590 40.374 

Brooklyn, N. Y 795.397 10.946 

St. Louis, Mo 424, 704 

Boston, Mass 439, 8S7 - . : / » 

Baltimore, Md 367.143 67.2</6 

San Francisco, Cal 270,696 3S.301 

Cincinnati, 285,224 i i.'>M 

Cleveland, 258,318 3."35 

Buffalo, N. Y 254.495 M69 

New Orleans, La 1 77.376 64*663 

Pittsburgh, Pa 230.660 7.9S7 

Washington, D. C 154.695 7?. '-97 

Detroit, Mich 202.422 3.454 

Milwaukee, Wis 204.001 467 

Newark, N. J 177.559 4.^7* 

Minneapolis, Minn 163,384 i.3S4 

Jersey City, N. J 160,766 a.a37 

Louisville, Ky 132.457 'r^-J 

Omaha, Neb 135.794 

Rochester, N. Y i33.3iS $7« 

St. Paul, Mmn 131.632 

Kansas City, Mo i^'-'^i '■ o 

Providence, R. I. 128.095 4*051 



646 PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

POPULATION OF CITIES.— Continued. 

Cities. White. Colored. 

Denver, Colo 102,642 4,071 

Indianapolis, Ind 96, 282 9, 1 54 

Allegheny, Pa 102,759 2,528 

Albany, N. Y 93,782 1,141 

Columbus, O 82,603 5,547 

Syracuse, N. Y 87, 276 867 

Worcester, Mass 83,679 976 

Toledo, O 80,349 1,085 

Richmond, Va 49,o34 32,354 

New Haven, Conn 78,795 2,503 

Paterson, N. J 77,644 703 

Lowell, Mass 77, 390 306 

Nashville, Tenn 46,773 29,395 

Scranton, Pa 74,934 281 

Fall River, Mass 74, 189 209 

Cambridge, Mass 68, 001 2,027 

Atlanta, Ga 37,416 28,117 

Memphis, Tenn 35,766 28,729 

Wilmington, Del 53, 754 7,677 

Dayton, O 59,054 2,166 

Troy, N. Y 60,441 515 

Grand Rapids, Mich 59,657 621 

Reading, Pa 58,260 401 

Camden, N. J 53,392 4,921 

Trenton, N. J 55,726 1,732 

Lynn, Mass 54,997 73° 

Lincoln, Neb 53,758 1,396 

Charleston, S. C 23,919 31,036 

Hartford, Conn 51,776 i,454 

St. Joseph, Mo 48,628 3,696 

Evansville, Ind 45, 186 5,57o 

Los Angeles, Cal 47,205 3,190 

Des Moines, la 48,944 i,i49 

The colored people of Massachusetts are taxed for 
property valued at $9,004,122. 

The increase of colored population in the last decade 
is greater than that of any other state. 



STATISTICS UF TllC RACE. 



or 



WHITE AND COLORED POPULATION BY COUNTIES OF ALL 
THE SOUTHERN STATES. 



ALABAMA. 
Counties. White. Colored. 

1 Autauga 4,796 8,418 

2 Baldwin 5.678 3.263 

3_Barbour i3,454 21,442 

4 Bibb 9>o8o 14.744 

5 Blount 20,155 1,770 

6 Bullock 6,055 21,005 

7 Butler 11,326 10,315 

8 Calhoun 23,947 9.879 

9 Chambers 12,460 13.858 

10 Cherokee 17,656 

11 Chilton 11,483 

12 Costow 8,209 

13 Clarke 9.685 

14 Clay 14,061 

15 Clerburne 12,427 

16 Coffee 10,237 

17 Colbert 12,361 

18 Conecuh 7,987 

19 Coosa 10,552 

20 Covington 6,695 

21 Crenshaw . . . .11, 745 

22 Cullman 13,401 

23 Dale 13,867 

24 Dallas 8,016 

25 DeKalb 19.897 

26 Elmore ii,443 

27 Escambia 5.843 

28 Etowah 18,171 

29 Fayette 11,141 

30 Franklin 9, 520 

31 Geneva 9.664 

32 Greene 3.235 

33 Hale 5.180 

34 Henry 16,038 

35 Jackson 24,179 



2,803 
3,066 
9.313 
12,939 
1,704 
791 

1.933 
7.823 
6,606 

5,354 

841 

3.679 

38 

3.358 

41,329 

1,204 

10,288 

2,650 

3,755 
1,682 
1,160 
1,026 
18,771 

8,8c9 

3.840 



36 Jefferson 56.334 32.142 



Counties. 

37 Lamar 

38 Lauderdale. . . 

39 Lawrence 

40 Lee 

41 Limestone. .. . 

42 Lowndes 

43 Macon . 

44 Madison 

45 Marengo 

46 Marior. 

47 Marshall .... 

48 Mobile . . 

49 Monroe 

50 Montgomery. 

51 Morgan 

52 Perry .... 

53 Pickens 

54 Pike. . . 

55 Randolph 

56 Russell 

57 St. Clair . 

58 Shelby 

59 Sumte: 

60 Tallad' 

61 Tallap^Kj^^i . , 

62 Tuscaloosa . 

63 Walker 

64 Washington 

65 Wilcox . 

66 Winston 

ARK A 

1 Arkansas 

2 Ashley . 
Baxter 

Benton 

Boone 

Bradley 



w: 

II.; . 

16.O47 ,; 

12.553 M7I 
12.197 !^ • ' 

l2.Ir>S 

4.563 .' 
4.3SI U.i«* 

, 7,r>46 25.M'> 
io.76») 57* 



iW - 
5.37'> »-.-• 
I4.6S2 :• ••• 



5.814 



.18,261 la.tJ^i 

U.123 1.656 



-6 
4 



3.24) 

34.023 



3 
4 

5 
6 



NSA.«i. 



".427 
. *) 

»/ .■ ** 

15.723 



6. 



IS 



648 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



Counties. White. Colored. 

7 Calhoun 4,547 2,720 

8 Carroll 17,205 83 

9 Chicot Ij392 10,027 

10 Clark 14,201 6,7g6 

11 Clay 12,156 44 

12 Cleburne 7,832 52 

13 Cleveland.... 8,034 3,328 

14 Columbia 12,580 7,313 

15 Conway 11,788 7,671 

16 Craighead. .. .11,506 517 

17 Crawford 19,410 2,304 

18 Crittenden 2,050 ii,8go 

19 Cross 3,802 2,8gi 

20 Dallas 6,026 3,267 

21 Desha 2,119 8,205 

22 Drew 1,487 9,865 

23 Faulkner 14,994 3,346 

24 Franklin 19,256 678 

25 Fulton 10,898 »6 

26 Garland 12,547 2,781 

27 Grant 6,750 1,036 

28 Greene 7,747 161 

29 Hempstead. . .11,819 10,977 

30 Hot Spring. . .10,358 1,249 

31 Howard 10,734 3,055 

32 Independence 20,381 1,580 

33 Izard 12, 776 262 

34 Jackson 10, 849 4, 330 

35 Jefferson 10,941 29,930 

36 Johnson 16,125 613 

37 Lafayette 3,157 4,543 

38 Lawrence .. ..12,151 833 

39 Lee 4,691 13,195 

40 Lincoln 3,784 6,461 

41 Little River. . 4,902 4,001 

42 Logan 19,646 1,128 

43 Lonoke 11,278 7,985 

44 Madison 17,134 58 

45 Marion 10,358 39 

46 Miller 8,147 6,566 



Counties. White. 

47 Mississippi.. . 5,735 

48 Monroe 6,124 

49 Montgomery.. 7,621 

50 Nevada 10,526 

51 Newton 9,943 

52 Ouachita 8,076 

53 Perry 6,597 

54 Phillips 5,695 

55 Pike 8,053 

56 Poinsett 3,726 

57 Polk 9,237 

58 Pope 17,837 

59 Prairie 7,oii 

60 Pulaski 25,329 

61 Randolph ... .13,890 

62 St. Francois.. 5,141 

63 Saline 9,827 

64 Scott 12,601 

65 Searcy 9,630 

66 Sebastian . . . .29,398 

67 Sevier 8,616 

68 Sharp 10,240 

69 Stone 6,930 

70 Union 8,605 

71 VanBuren... 8,405 

72 Washington. .31,004 

73 White 2,379 

74 Woodruff .... 6,452 

75 Yell 16,652 

DELAWARE. 

1 Kent 24,625 

2 New Castle . .82,779 

3 Sussex 32,662 

FLORIDA. 

1 Alachua 9,673 

2 Baker 2,588 

3 Bradford 5,961 

4 Brevard 2,836 

5 Calhoun 1,132 

6 Citrus 2,090 



Colored. 

5,901 

9,212 

302 

4,306 

7 

8,957 

941 

19,646 

484 

546 

48 

1,621 

4,363 
22,000 

596 
8,002 
1,478 

34 

3-^ 

3,802 

1,456 

178 

113 
6,372 

162 
1,010 

2,567 
7,557 
1,363 

8,036 
14,365 

5,985 

13,260 
745 
1,555 
541 
549 
304 



STATISTICS CF THE RACE. 



649 



Counties. 

7 Clay 

8 Columbia..,. 6,393 

9 Dade 640 

10 DeSoto 4,805 

11 Duval 11,970 

12 Escambia ii,475 

13 Franklin 1,950 

14 Gadsden 4,446 

15 Hamilton 5,337 

16 Hernando 1,584 

17 Hillsboro .11,996 

18 Holmes 4,^52 

19 Jackson 6,332 

20 Jefferson 3,559 

21 Lafayette 3,4 '"' 

22 Lake 6,1 

23 Lee. , 

24 Leon 
2 



White. Colored. 
2,632 1,521 



3,447 
90 

1.334 



c^ -— X 3,121 

25 Levy 4,457 

26 Liberty 818 

27 Madison 5,556 

28 Manatee 2,714 

29 Marion 9,310 

30 Monroe 12,815 

31 Nassau 3>95i 

32 Orange 9,039 

33 Osceola 9.^57 

34 Pasco 3,872 

35 Polk 7,121 

36 Putnam 6,404 

37 St. John 5,50s 

38 Santa Rosa. .. 5,768 

39 Sumter 3,864 

40 Suwanee 5, 581 

41 Taylor i,97i 

42 Volusia 6,004 

43 Wakulla i,73S 

44 Walton 4,072 

45 Washington.. 5,087 



6,484 

87 

139 

14,802 

8,706 

1,358 

7,448 

3,170 

892 

2,917 

184 

11,211 

12,199 

239 

1,844 

80 

14,631 
2,129 

634 

8,760 

iSi 

11,485 

5,935 

4,333 

3,536 
476 

376 

7S4 

4,778 

3,195 
2,192 

498 

4,943 

151 

2,462 

1,379 

743 

1,339 



GEORGIA. 
Counties. Wh 

1 Appling 6,214 

2 Haker 1,=^ 

3 Baldwin 5,- 

4 Hanks 6,»/./^> 

5 Hartow 14.574 

6 Herrien 8.?-" 

7 Bibb 19. 

8 Brooks 6. 

9 Bryan 2, - 

10 Bulloch 9. 

11 Burke 5,817 

12 Butts 5,167 

13 Calhoun 2.210 

14 Camden 2,041 

15 Campbell 5,621 

16 Carroll 18.4^'^ 

17 Catoosa 4.795 

18 Charlton 2.465 

19 Chatham 22.9^'«; 

20 Chattahoochee i.-;: 

21 Chattooga 9.204 

22 Cherokee IS.O'M 

23 Clark 7.07a 

24 Clay 3.'"2 

25 Clayton 5.--" 

26 Clinch 4.-9- 

27 Cobb 15.^'" 

28 Coffee 6.' ^i 

29 Colquitt 4.^^"" 

30 Columbia 3 • 

31 Coweta 9.740 

32 Crawford 4.»59 

33 Dade 4.614 

34 Dawson 5 

35 Decatur 9«»» 

36 De Kalb 11.214 

37 Dodge 6 '1 

38 Dooley •> 

39 Dougherty ... 1 



- . 4 

i.S49 

J1 

' Jt 

.4.7 

7 
7 
1 

6. 199 
4.J37 
T :')3 

;,. -51 

'36 
870 

34.757 
' '5 

I. SO"* 
8. Ill 

4.*«5 

1 75 
; TO 

-4 

'7 

\^ 

13.011 

$.156 

)3 



<4 



650 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



Counties. White. Colored. 

40 Douglas 5,993 1,801 

41 Early 3,670 6,122 

42 Echols 2,059 1,020 

43 Effingham.... 3,388 2,210 

44 Elbert 7,492 7,884 

45 Emanuel 9,396 5,306 

46 Fannin 8,612 112 

47 Fayette 5,654 3,o74 

48 Floyd 17,970 10,414 

49 Forsyth 9,866 1,288 

50 Franklin 11,372 3,298 

51 Fulton 49.238 35,397 

52 Gilmer 9,005 69 

53 Glascock 2,552 1,168 

54 Glynn 5,669 7,741 

55 Gordon 11,030 1,727 

56 Greene 5,332 11,719 

57 Gwinnett 16,903 2,996 

58 Habersham... 9,984 1,589 

59 Hall 15,280 2,767 

60 Hancock 4,739 12,410 

61 Haralson 10,199 1,117 

62 Harris 5,999 10, 797 

63 Hart 7,930 2,957 

64 Heard 6,215 3,342 

65 Henry 8,629 7,591 

66 Houston 5,272 16,341 

67 Irwin 4,241 2,075 

68 Jackson 13,780 5,396 

69 Jasper 5,392 8,487 

70 Jefferson 6,450 10,763 

71 Johnson 4,673 1,456 

72 Jones 3,931 8,778 

73 Laurens 7,654 6,093 

74 Lee 1,432 7,242 

75 Liberty 4,207 8,673 

76 Lincoln 2,473 3,673 

77 Lowndes 7,128 7,974 

78 Lumpkin 6,453 414 

79 McDuffie 3,267 5,522 



Counties. White. Colored. 

80 Mcintosh 1,258 5,212 

81 Macon 4,001 9,181 

82 Madison 7,361 3,662 

83 Marion 3,467 4,261 

84 Meriwether.. 9,201 11,538 

85 Miller 2,701 i,574 

86 Milton 5,536 672 

87 Mitchell 4,800 6,106 

88 Monroe 6,621 12,516 

89 Montgomery 5,990 3,658 

90 Morgan 5,043 10,997 

91 Murray 7,977 484 

92 Muscogee . . .12,395 15,362 

93 Newton 7,145 7,164 

94 Oconee 3, 881 3,832 

95 Oglethorpe.. 5,686 11,264 

96 Paulding 10,443 1,505 

97 Pickens 7,832 349 

98 Pierce 4,396 1,983 

99 Pike 8,223 8,077 

100 Polk 10,289 4,654 

loi Pulaski 6,558 1,001 

102 Putnam 3,939 10,903 

103 Quitman 1,421 3,05 

104 Rabun 5, 440 166 

105 Randolph — 5,794 9,473 

106 Richmond. . .22,346 22,818 

107 Rockdale 4,127 2,686 

108 Schley 2,238 3,205 

109 Screven 6,916 7,507 

no Spalding. .. . 5,835 7,281 

111 Stewart 4,198 11,484 

112 Sumpter . . . . 7,008 11,598 

113 Talbot 4,019 9,239 

114 Taliaferro. . . 2,464 4,227 

115 Tattnall 7,138 3,115 

116 Taylor 4,598 4,068 

117 Telfair 3,142 2,335 

118 Terrell 5,334 9,169 

119 Thomas 11,122 15,029 



STATISTICS OF THE RACE. 



Counties. White. 

1 20 Towns 3,990 

121 Troup 7,062 

122 Twiggs 2,748 

123 Union 7,584 

124 Upson 6,065 

125 Walker 11,350 

126 Walton 10,312 

127 Ware 5,178 

128 Warren 4,201 

129 Washington. 10,312 

130 Wayne 5,290 

131 Webster . . , 

132 White 

133 Whitfield . . 

134 Wilcox 

135 Wilkes 

136 Wilkinson. . 

137 Worth 



1 Adair 

2 Allen 

3 Anderson 

4 Ballard . . 

5 Barren , . . 

6 Bath 

7 Bell 

8 Bone 

9 Bourbon . 

10 Boyd . . . . 

1 1 Boyle . . , . 

12 Bracken 



2,423 

5,489 

10,984 

4,825 
5,616 

5,567 
5.872 
KENTUCKY. 

11,893 

12,650 

9.547 

6,978 

17,765 

11,235 

9.570 

11,134 
10,179 

13.328 

8,139 



x^ x^.c^xvw. 11,723 

13 Breathitt 8,536 

14 Breckenridge.16,896 

15 Bullitt 7,243 

16 Butler 13,183 

17 Caldwell 10,450 

18 Calloway 13,583 

19 Campbell 43-522 

20 Carlisle 7,213 

21 Carroll 8,509 

43 Progress 



Colored. 

74 
13,661 

5,447 
165 
6,123 
1,932 
7.155 
3,619 
6,756 

14,925 

2.195 

3.272 

662 

1.930 

3,155 
12,464 

5,214 
4.176 

1,828 
1,042 
1,063 
1,412 
3,724 
1,573 

740 
1,112 
6,797 

705 
4,809 

646 

169 
2,080 
1,048 

773 
2,736 
1,092 

686 

389 
757 



Counties, White. 

22 Carter 17.067 

23 Casey 11.331 

24 Christian 18.886 

25 Ckirk io.fir>8 

26 Clay 12.034 

27 Clint<ni 6,859 

28 Crittenden ... 12,1 8S 

29 Cumberland., 7.456 

30 Daviess 27,751 

31 Edmonson . . . 7,547 

32 Elliott 9,187 

33 Estill 10,255 

34 Fayette 22.(j6<; 

35 Fleminv;- 14.453 

36 Floyd I i.io«; 

37 Franklin 16,508 

38 Fulton 7.7.)7 

39 Gallatin 4.«i4 

40 Garrard 8,114 

41 Grant 12,188 

42 Graves 25,378 

43 Grayson 18,199 

44 Greene 9.S72 

45 Greenup 5,573 

46 Hancock S.476 

47 Hardin 18,957 

48 Harlan 6.041 

49 Harrison 4.447 

50 Hart 14.437 

51 Henderson .. ,21.313 

52 Henry 11. 7'*** 

53 Hickman 9.*''-j 

54 iTopkins 20.073 

55 Jacksog 8,207 

56 Jefferson I54.<)8* 

57 Jessamine. .. .17,542 

53 Johnson io.f>43 

59 Kent<»n 5>.4«>i 

to Knott 5.365 

61 Kno.x 12.984 



(i51 

Colortd. 

«37 
516 

I- 

4»3 

188 

4'^ 



5»i 

136 

4 -'- 



.J .- 

483 

3.»54 

48.) 

758 
2.347 

154 
2.4^»7 
2,002 



3.433 
<4 

3.3.5')5 
3.70A 

:\ 

77« 



652 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



Counties. White. Colored. 

62 Larue 8,642 791 

63 Laurel 13,188 555 

64 Lawrence.. . .17,526 176 

65 Lee 5,746 459 

66 Leslie 3.932 32 

67 Letcher 6,845 75 

68 Lewis 14,626 177 

69 Lincoln 12,388 3,574 

70 Livingston.. 8,725 741 

71 Logan 17,243 6,560 

72 Lyon 6,310 1,317 

73 McCracken. .15,346 5,703 

74 McLean 9,101 786 

75 Madison 16,949 7,399 

76 Magoffin 9,036 160 

77 Marion 12,500 3.148 

78 Marshall 10,945 342 

79 Martin 4,186 23 

80 Mason 16,604 4,168 

81 Meade 8,715 769 

82 Menifee 4,639 27 

83 Mercer 11,959 3,075 

84 Metcalfe .... 8,971 900 

85 Monroe 10,449 540 

86 Montgomery 8,724 3,643 

87 Morgan 11,200 49 

88 Muhlenberg. 15,596 2,359 

89 Nelson 12,596 3,821 

90 Nicholas.... 9,448 1,316 

91 Ohio 21,600 1,346 

92 Oldham 5,107 1,647 

93 Owen 16,249 1,427 

94 Owsley 5,891 84 

95 Pendleton. . .15,839 507 

96 Perry 6,171 160 

97 Pike 17,212 166 

98 Powell 4,319 379 

99 Pulaski 24,440 1,291 

100 Robertson .. 4,529 155 

loi Rockcastle . . 9,686 155 



Counties, White, Colored. 

102 Rowen 6,023 106 

103 Russell 7,870 266 

104 Scott 11,482 5,063 

105 Shelby ii,744 4,776 

106 Simpson 8,504 2,374 

107 Spencer 5, 510 1,250 

108 Taylor 7,879 i,474 

109 Todd 10,513 6,301 

no Trigg 10,250 3,652 

111 Trimble 6,819 321 

112 Union i5»573 2,656 

113 Warren 22,229 7,926 

114 Washington.. II, 528 2,094 

115 Wayne 12,234 618 

116 Webster 15,284 1,912 

117 Whitley 15,828 752 

118 Wolfe 7,058 122 

119 Woodford. . . 7,527 4,853 

LOUISIANA. 

1 Acadia 11,602 1,629 

2 Ascension.,., 8,233 11,270 

3 Assumption ..10,726 8,890 

4 Aroyelles 12,904 12,161 

5 Bienville 7,840 6,268 

6 Bossier. ..... , 4,102 16,225 

7 Caddo 8,003 23,541 

8 Calcasieu 16,834 3,194 

9 Caldwell 2,707 8,106 

10 Cameron 2,402 426 

11 Catahoula. . . . 6,992 4,976 

12 Claiborne.... 9,796 13,512 

13 Concordia.... 1,757 13,112 

14 DeSota 6,638 13,220 

15 East B. Rouge 9,494 16,420 

16 East Carroll . . 997 11,360 

17 East Felicana 5,196 12,707 

18 Franklin 2,860 4,040 

19 Grant 4,844 3,416 

20 Iberia 10,519 10,477 

21 Iberville 6,696 15,142 



STATISTICS OF 

Counties. White, Colored. 

22 Jackson 4,844 2,608 

23 Jefferson 6,716 6,484 

24 Lafayette g,o8o 6,884 

25 Laforche 14,270 7,819 

26 Lincoln 8,481 6,269 

27 Livingston... 4,898 871 

28 Madison 931 13,204 

29 Morehouse .. . 3,519 13,267 

30 Natchitoches .10,254 i5,55i 

31 Orleans i77,37C> 64,491 

32 Ouachita 5,641 12,344 

33 Plaquemines . 5,283 7,258 

34 Point Coupee. 4,696 14,917 

35 Rapids 11,823 15,800 

36 Red River.... 3,557 7,760 

37 Richland 3,017 7,213 

38 Sabine 7,312 2,067 

39 St. Bernard . . 2,347 1,977 

40 St. Charles... 1,986 5,751 

41 St. Helena .. . 3,473 4,589 

42 St. James .... 5,691 9,997 

43 St. John the 

Baptist ..„, 4,680 6,637 

44 St. Landry. . .17,856 22,274 

45 St. Martin 7,050 7,821 

46 St. Mary 7,97^ i,435 

47 St. Tammany 6,398 3,702 

48 Tangipahoa.. 7,943 ■\^^9^ 

49 Tensas 1,153 15,492 

50 Terrebonne . .10,412 9,699 

51 Union 9,901 7,403 

52 Vermilion ii,335 2,899 

53 Vernon 5,3^^3 54o 

54 Washington .. 4,^35 2,632 

55 Webster 5,172 7.2S9 

56 West B.Rouge 2,398 5,9^4 

57 West Carroll. . 1,438 2,310 

58 West Feliciana 2,276 12,785 

59 Winn 6,072 1,010 



rilK R.\CK. 

MARYLAND. 
Counties. White. > 

1 Alleghany .. .40,115 

2 Anne Arundel 19, 

3 Baltimore 62. 

4 Balti'rc City 367. 

5 Calvert 4.7/. 

6 Caroline i(j.<><y2 

7 Carroll 30,241 

8 Cecil 2i,S?o 

9 Charles 7.'»: l 

10 Dorchester — 16,133 

11 Frederick 42.<>S3 

12 Garrett 14.":- 

13 Harford 22,617 

14 Howard 12,159 

15 Kent 10.' ■ ; 

16 Montgomery .i7.'"> 

17 Prince George 14 - - 

18 Queen Anne. .11. r. 

19 St. Mary S.t? 

20 Somerset 14. 

21 Talbut 12.24S 

22 Washington . . 37,274 

23 Wicomico 14.731 

24 Worcester 1 3.01 a 

MISSISSIPPI. 

1 Adams 6,12- 

2 Alcorn o '' 

3 Amito 7,:- 

4 Attala 12.-;. 

5 Benton 5 

6 Bolivar 3,22- 

7 Calhoun 11.276 

8 Carroll 

9 Chicka.«wiw . . . •- 

10 Choctaw 

1 1 Claiborne 

12 Clarke 

13 Clay .... 

14 Coahoma 



(yia 



1,411 



<j 



-.136 

1-t 
4.00 

' ->7 

'-' ^S 
: 1,210 

f tt - 

7.483 

.•'07 

$.199 
6.7VI 



. :: 



3.41a 

1 1 



654 PROGRESS 

Counties. White. Colored. 

15 Copiah 14.632 15.600 

16 Covington ... 5,319 2,971 

17 De Soto 6,955 17,224 

18 Franklin 5,484 4,934 

19 Greene 2,936 933 

20 Grenada 3,896 11,076 

21 Hancock 5,77o 2,509 

22 Harrison 9,163 3,3i4 

23 Hinds 10,892 28,368 

24 Holmes 7,o8d 23,883 

25 Issaquena.... 736 11, 579 

26 Itawamba. .. .10,723 9S5 

27 Jackson 7,814 3,436 

28 Jasper 7,368 7,238 

29 Jefferson 3,589 15.356 

30 Jones 7,082 1,246 

31 Kemper 7,869 10,058 

32 Lafayette ... .11,700 8,853 

33 Landerdale. . .14,671 14,972 

34 Lawrence 6,240 6,078 

35 Leake 9.35o 5,018 

36 Lee 12,510 7,530 

37 Leflore 2,597 14,267 

38 Lincoln 10,325 7,587 

39 Lowndes 6,009 21,036 

40 Madison 6,031 21,290 

•41 Marion 6,530 3,002 

42 Marshall 9.731 16,306 

43 Monroe 12,109 18,619 

44 Montgomery . 7,448 7,009 

45 Neshoba 8,351 2,172 

46 Newton 10,119 6,156 

47 Noxuber 4,709 22,629 

48 Oktibbeha 5,759 ii.934 

49 Panola 9,248 11,729 

50 Pearl River . . 2,301 656 

51 Perry 4,582 1,874 

52 Pike 10,581 10,620 

53 Pontotoc 10,583 4,355 

54 Prentiss 10,833 2,845 



OF A RACE. 

Counties. White. Colored. 

55 Quitman 894 2,392 

56 Rankin 7,507 10,413 

57 Scott 7,000 4,616 

58 Sharkey 1,223 7,141 

59 Simpson 6,229 3.909 

60 Smith 8,924 1,711 

61 Sunflower.... 2530 6,850 

62 Tallahatchee.. 5,154 9.207 

63 Tate 8,495 10,756 

64 Tippah 10,026 2,925 

65 Tishomingo,. 8,311 991 

66 Tunica 1.259 10,895 

67 Union 11.608 3,998 

68 Warren 8,803 24,356 

69 Washington.. 4,838 35.530 

70 Wayne 5,799 4, on 

71 Webster 9,080 2,980 

72 Wilkinson.... 3.962 13,626 

73 Winstone 6,987 5.061 

74 Yalobusha.. . . 7,683 8,941 

75 Yazoo 8,690 27,701 

MISSOURI. 

1 Adair 17,114 309 

2 Andrew 15, 75^ 249 

3 Atchison 15.485 46 

4 Adrain 20.230 1,840 

5 Barry 22,846 97 

6 Barton 8,457 47 

7 Bates 31,817 404 

8 Benton 14,807 165 

9 Bollinger 13,097 ^9 

10 Boone 21,364 4,677 

11 Buchanan 66,116 3,974 

12 Butler 9,568 596 

13 Caldwell i4,777 374 

14 Calloway . . . .20,645 4,484 

15 Camden 9,943 97 

16 Cape Girard'u2o,022 2,038 

17 Carroll 24,365 1,377 

18 Carter 4.650 9 



STATISTICS OF THE RACK. 



055 



Counties. White. Colored. 

19 Cass 22,517 784 

20 Cedar 15,493 127 

21 Chariton 22,763 3,490 

22 Christian 13,929 92 

23 Clark 14,956 170 

24 Clay 18,503 1,348 

25 Clinton 16,052 1,086 

26 Cole 15,345 1,935 

27 Cooper 19,161 3,539 

28 Crawford 11,883 73 

29 Dade 17,238 2S7 

30 Dallas 12,592 55 

31 Daviess 20,079 376 

32 De Kalb 14,428 no 

33 Dent 12,108 41 

34 Douglas 14,078 33 

35 Dunklin 14,927 158 

36 Franklin 26,262 1,794 

37 Gasconade . . .11,620 86 

38 Gentry 18,982 36 

39 Greene 45.169 3,441 

40 Grundy 17,620 254 

41 Harrison 20,979 56 

42 Henry 27,076 1,158 

43 Hickory 9,428 25 

44 Holt 15,389 80 

45 Howard 12,826 4,544 

46 Howell 18,410 208 

47 Iron 8,799 320 

48 Jackson 145,322 14,992 

49 Jasper 49.571 9^3 

50 Jefferson 21,415 1,067 

51 Johnson 26,302 1,829 

52 Knox 13,287 214 

53 Laclede 14,229 472 

54 Lafayette 26,011 4,170 

55 Lawrence 25,861 364 

56 Lewis 14,885 1,050 

57 Lincoln 16,306 2,039 

58 Linn 23,311 80S 



Cfjuntics. \Vh;t<v 

59 Livingston ...i-y.-soj 

60 McDowell. . . . 11.270 

61 Macon a<;.379 

62 Madison 9.027 

63 Maries 8.5«;7 

64 Marion 22.510 

65 Mercer 14.509 

66 Miller 13.933 

67 Mississippi . . . 8,025 

68 Moniteau .... 14.7S7 

69 Monroe i'>.74o 

7<j Montgomery . is.!**.^ 

71 Morgan ii>>7 

72 New Madrid. 7,2^4 

73 Newton 21.417 

74 Nodaway . . . .30,777 

75 Oregon i".445 

76 Osage 12.709 

77 Ozark 9,783 

78 Pemiscot .... 5,563 

79 Perry 12.745 

80 Pettis 28.351 

81 Phelps I2.3f5 

82 Pike 2i.4<»» 

83 Piatt 15.036 

84 Polk 20.176 

85 Pulaski 9.364 

86 Putnam I5.33< 

87 Ralls n.2if. 

88 Randolph . . . .2i.<)57 

89 Ray 22,4U» 

90 Reynolds .... 6,784 

91 Ripley S.fti 

92 St. Charles. . .2<».65<» 

93 St. Clair 16.503 

94 St.GcnCvicve. 9,386 

95 St. Francis. ..i6,8oa 

96 St. Louis 32.836 

97 •' City.. 427. 704 

98 Saline 28,659 



bOs 

3 
1.196 

24« 
J 

3.72« 
73 

2. 1« '^ 

!"4^ 
2."M 

«.'-'•: 
Ill 

33 

371 

13 

412 

4')2 

2 -'I-) 
2- I 

4.'«> i 

I.3I0 

163 

23 

I 
to 

I 

2.3*5 
244 
496 

S4$ 

26.N(»5 

5.IOI 



65G 



PROGRESS OF A RACE, 



Counties. White. Colored. 

99 Schuyler ... .11,246 3 

100 Scotland . . . .12,562 112 

loi Scott 10,735 493 

102 Shannon .... 8,894 4 

103 Shelby 14,886 755 

104 Stoddard. .. .17,192 135 

105 Stone 7,080 10 

106 Sullivan 18,955 45 

107 Taney 7, 970 3 

108 Texas 19,385 21 

109 Vernon 31,273 231 

no Warren 9,188 725 

111 Washington. 12,381 772 

112 Wayne 11,823 104 

113 Webster 15,008 167 

114 Worth 8,737 I 

115 Wright 14.115 364 

NORTH CAROLINA. 

1 Alamance. .. .12,688 5,583 

2 Alexander . . . 8,588 842 

3 Alleghany. . . . 6,061 462 

4 Anson 10,237 9,790 

5 Ash 15,033 595 

6 Beaufort 11,869 9,203 

7 Bertie 7,885 11,291 

8 Baden 8,646 8,117 

9 Brunswick... 6,139 4,761 

10 Buncombe . . .28,640 6,626 

11 Burke 12,378 2,561 

12 Cabarrus 12,683 5,459 

13 Caldwell 10,737 1,561 

14 Camden 3,347 2,320 

15 Carteret 8,528 2,297 

16 Caswell 6,639 9,389 

17 Catawba 16,073 2,616 

18 Chatham 17,214 8,199 

19 Cherokee 9,655 321 

20 Chowan 4,010 5,i57 

21 Clay 4,055 142 

22 Cleveland 17,301 3,093 



Counties. White. Colored. 

23 Columbus. .. .11,804 6,052 

24 Craven 7,175 13, 358 

25 Cumberland. .14,952 12,369 

26 Currituck .... 4,731 2,016 

27 Dare 3,362 406 

28 Davidson ... .18,174 3,528 

29 Davie 8,769 2,852 

30 Duplin 11,600 7,090 

31 Durham 10,712 7,329 

32 Edgecombe . . 8,513 15,600 

33 Forsythe 19, 433 9'Ooi 

34 Franklin 10,755 10,335 

35 Gaston 12,927 4,837 

36 Gates 5,539 4,713 

37 Graham 3,137 176 

38 Granville 12,122 12,362 

39 Greene 5,281 4,758 

40 Guilford 19,820 8,232 

41 Halifax 9,614 19,294 

42 Harnett..- 9,453 4,247 

43 Haywood ... .12,829 517 

44 Henderson. ..11,211 1,378 

45 Hertford 5,906 7,945 

46 Hyde 4,962 3,941 

47 Iredell 19,516 5,946 

48 Jackson 8,680 832 

49 Johnson 19,917 7,322 

50 Jones 3,885 3,518 

51 Lenoir 8,517 6,362 

52 Lincoln 10,028 2,558 

53 McDowell.... 9,114 1,825 

54 Macon 9,436 666 

55 Madison 17,095 710 

56 Martin 7,838 7,383 

57 Mecklenburg. 23,141 19,532 

58 Mitchell 12,252 555 

59 Montgomery . 8,982 2,257 

60 Moore 13,985 6,494 

61 Nash 12,186 8,521 

62 New Hanover 10,089 13,937 



STATISTICS OF THE KACl-:. 



C57 



Counties. White. Colored. 

63 Northampton. 9,224 12,018 

64 Onslow 7,392 2,91 1 

65 Orange 9,705 5,243 

66 Pamlico 4,767 2,379 

67 Pasquotank . . 5,201 5,547 

68 Pender 5,967 6,547 

69 Perquimans.. 4,719 5,574 

70 Person 8,251 6,900 

71 Pitt 13,192 12,327 

72 Polk 4,807 1,095 

73 Randolph 21,848 3,347 

74 Richmond ...10,989 12,959 

75 Robeson 16,629 I4,854 

76 Rockingham .15,197 10,166 

77 Rowan 17,142 6,981 

78 Rutherford ..15,073 3,697 

79 Samson 15,960 9,136 

80 Stanley 10,629 1,507 

81 Stokes 14,386 2,813 

82 Surry 16,926 2,355 

83 Swaim 5,652 925 

84 Transylvania. 5,368 513 

85 Tyrrell 3,000 1,225 

86 Union .-15,712 5,547 

87 Vance 6,438 ii,i47 

88 Wake 26,093 23,114 

89 Warren 5,880 13,480 

90 Washington.. 4,961 5,239 

91 Watauga 10,180 431 

92 Wayne 15, "5 10,985 

93 Wilkes 20,633 2,042 

94 Wilson 10,884 7,760 

95 Yadkin 12,421 1.369 

96 Yancy 9.197 293 

SOUTH CAROLINA. 

1 Abbeville 15,142 3i,705 

2 Aiken 13,761 18,059 

3 Anderson 25,268 18,428 

4 Barnwell i4,i94 30,416 

5 Beaufort .... 2,695 21,421 



Counties. White Col « 

6 Berkeley 7,6S6 4: 

7 Charleston .. .24.764 35 

8 Chester . 8,482 18,178 

9 Chesterfield. .10,988 7.479 

10 Clarendon.... 6.987 16,246 

11 Colletton 14.032 7f . 

12 Darlington . .1 t.7i'> i- 

13 Edgefield . . . ,17.340 31 

14 Fairfield 7.»39 21.4 -• 

15 Florence 10.471 14.5M 

16 Georgetown.. 4.053 i'.".jo 

17 Greenville ...27.516 

18 Hampton 6.827 il.7«7 

19 Ilorry >3.7<j6 

20 Kershaw .... 8.550 13.610 

21 Lancaster 10.411 10.349 

22 Laurens 13,169 18, 444 

23 Lexington ...13.76<> 8.411 

24 Marion 14.519 15.456 

25 .Marlboro 9."^ ' m n? 

26 Xcwbcrry. . . . 8.,' • •» 

27 Oconee 13.^ r "^ 

28 Orangeburg.. 15, 654 33,73* 

2?' Pickens I2.2<;3 4.136 

2,0 Richland ii. "^ 

3r Spartanburg .36,85: 

3;.' Sumter xi.813 ■- 

3;3 Union 10//" '"> 

34 Williamsburg 9. -^ 

35 York i8,-.> -^ 

TENNE.SSF.E. 

1 Anderson ....13.9W '•**• 

2 Bedford ... .i«.4ii ^337 

3 Benton ^" 

4 Blcdso<. 49« 

5 Blount •• 

6 Bradley ""' 

7 Campbell i: 5^* 

8 Cannon ^^ 

9 Carroll ^ , .-'- S'To* 



658 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



Counties. White. Colored. 

10 Carter 12,688 701 

11 Cheatham..., 7,297 1,548 

12 Chester 7,228 1,841 

13 Claiborne . . . .14,577 526 

14 Clay 6,880 380 

15 Cocke 15,178 1,339 

16 Coffee 12,127 1,699 

17 Crockette . . . .10,908 4,238 

18 Cumberland. . .5,322 53 

19 Davidson ....66,612 41,549 

20 Decatur 7,662 1,333 

21 De Kalb 14462 1,188 

22 Dickson 14, 493 2,152 

23 Dyer i5,i93 4.762 

24 Fayette 8,264 20,614 

25 Fentress 5,180 46 

26 Franklin 15,313 3, 610 

27 Gibson 26,386 9,473 

28 Giles 22,427 12,530 

29 Grainger 12,470 716 

30 Greene 25,047 1,566 

31 Grundy 5,909 436 

32 Hamblen .... 9,867 1,546 

33 Hamilton 35,760 17,704 

34 Hancock..*.... 9,598 744 

35 Hardeman . . .12,082 8,947 

36 Hardin 15,269 2,429 

37 Hawkins 19,826 2,390 

38 Haywood 7,835 15,723 

39 Henderson ..13,894 2,442 

40 Henry 15,202 5,868 

41 Hickman .,..11,729 2,770 

42 Houston 4,553 837 

43 Humphreys . .10,178 1,542 

44 Jackson 12,835 480 

45 James 4,362 534 

46 Jefferson 14,269 2,206 

47 Johnson 8,478 377 

48 Knox 48,422 11,127 

49 Lake 4,226 1,070 



Counties. White. Colored. 

50 Lauderdale ..10,810 7,946 

51 Lawrence 11,492 794 

52 Lewis 2,336 219 

53 Lincoln 21,074 6,307 

54 Loudon 7,805 1,459 

55 McMinn 15,722 2,168 

56 McNaJry 13,602 1,908 

57 Macon 10,095 782 

58 Madison 15,809 14,684 

59 Marion 12,977 2,434 

60 Marshall 14,365 4,538 

61 Maury 22,090 16,022 

62 Meigs 6,208 721 

63 Monroe 14,046 1,272 

64 Montgomery .15,793 13,903 

65 Moore 5,434 541 

66 Morgan 7,303 336 

67 Obion 22,936 4,335 

68 Overton 11,767 272 

69 Perry 7, 114 671 

70 Pickett 4,725 II 

71 Polk 7,771 579 

72 Putnam 13,045 638 

73 Rhea 10,871 1,771 

74 Roane 15,460 1,957 

75 Robertson ...14,524 5,548 

76 Rutherford . .20,595 14,502 

77 Scott 9,423 371 

78 Sequatchie ... 2,948 76 

79 Sevier 18,134 627 

80 Shelby 51,021 61,674 

81 Smith 15,406 2,997 

82 Stewart 10,015 2,177 

83 Sullivan i9,457 1,422 

84 Sumner 17,257 6,40; 

85 Tipton 12,436 11,835 

86 Trousdale 4,018 1,832 

87 Unicoi 4,388 231 

88 Union ii,35i 107 

89 Van Buren . . . 2,794 67 



STATISTICS OF THE kACF. 



U5ii 



Counties. White. 

90 Warren 12,391 

91 Washington. .18,389 

92 Wayne 10,600 

93 Weakley 24, 330 

94 White 11,513 

95 Williamson ..16,162 

96 Wilson 19,798 

TEXAS. 

1 Anderson 11,420 

2 Andrews 24 

3 Angelina 5,705 

4 Aransas 1,684 

5 Archer 2,089 

6 Armstrong. . , 943 

7 Atascosa 6,157 

8 Austin 12,673 

9 Bandera 3,669 

10 Bastrop 11, 836 

11 Baylor 2,589 

12 Bee 3,401 

13 Bell 30,716 

14 Bexar 43,662 

15 Blanco 4,439 

16 Borden 217 

17 Bosque 13,583 

18 Bowie 12,659 

19 Brazoria 2,983 

20 Brazos 8,213 

21 Brewster 694 

22 Brown 11,348 

23 Buchel 2S7 

24 Burleson 7,274 

25 Burnet 10,440 

26 Caldwell 10,890 

27 Calhoun 647 

28 Callahan 5,426 

2g Cameron 14,307 

30 Camp 3,328 

31 Carson 355 

32 Cass 14.041 



Colored. 

2,022 

1,964 

S71 

4,625 

835 

10,159 

7,350 

9.502 

607 

131 
12 

I 

285 

5,85 
126 

8,898 

6 

317 
2,650 

5,504 
210 

5 
641 

7,591 

8,523 

3,433 

13 

73 
II 

5,727 
307 

4,873 
168 

31 

loS 

3,296 

I 

S.512 



(^juntics. 

33 Castro ., 

34 Cnambers. . . i..|7', 

35 Cherokee . ..15.265 

36 Childress ... 1,171 

37 Clay •j,^it, 

38 Coke 2..,r- 

39 Coleman .... (... .. 

40 Collin 34. -'•>"> 

41 Collingworth t-" 

42 Colorado lo,* ' ■ 

43 Comal 6,21 ^ 

44 Comanche ..15,^100 

45 Concho 1. 051 

46 Cooke 23,323 

47 Coryell 16.413 

48 Cottle 240 

49 Crane 15 

50 Crockett .... 194 

51 Crosby 345 

52 Dallcrn 112 

53 Dallas 55.7''^ 

54 Dawson 

55 Deaf Smith . 179 

56 Delta 8.3^; 

57 Denton i9.5'^» 

58 De Witt 10.31 1 

59 Dickens 295 

60 Dimmit 1.012 

61 Donley 1.012 

62 Duval 7.59I 

63 Eastland. . . .10,347 

64 I':ctor 223 

65 Edwards. . . . i.';''4 

66 Ellis 28.3.: 

67 El Pa.so 14.996 

68 Encinal 2,738 

(h) Ercth 20.?'. J 

70 Falls 12.74? 

71 Fanncn 34. 5' 

72 Fayette 23,0 ji 



Whit* Colored 



;^7 
7.705 

2 

'-* 

.-4$ 
iSo 

R 

«4 

1.351 

-459 



It 177 
I 

«.?»7 

;. r»S 

M 

4» 

7 

25 
I 
6 

••■ "•:'» 

377 
6 

- /.I 

;.i4» 
^.446 



660 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



Counties. 

73 Fisher . . 

74 Floyd, .. 

75 Foley . . . 

76 Ft. Bend 

77 Franklin 

78 Freestone 

79 Frio 

80 Gaines. 

81 Galveston 

82 Garza. . . 

83 Gillespie 

84 Glasscock, 

85 Goliad . . 

86 Gonzalas 

87 Gray 

88 Grayson 

89 Gregg . . 

90 Grimes . 

91 Guadalupi 

92 Hale . . . 

93 Hall . . . 

94 Hamilton 

95 Hansford 

96 Hardeman 

97 Hardin . 

98 Harris . . 

99 Harrison 
100 Hartley . 
loi Haskell . 

102 Hays. . . . 

103 Hemphill 

104 Henderson 

105 Hidalgo. 

106 Hill .... 

107 Hood . . . 

108 Hopkins 

109 Houston 
no Howard 

111 Hunt. . .. 

112 Hutchinson 



White. 
2,981 

529 

8 

1,605 

5,661 

9.311 

3,010 

68 

24,422 

6,947 
208 

4,266 

12,146 

202 

46,453 

4,052 

9,648 

10,799 

718 

702 

9.300 

133 

3,880 

2,989 

23,718 

8,528 

251 
1,659 
9.152 

508 

9.293 
6,457 

25.485 

7,339 
17,726 
10,892 

1,165 
28,917 

56 



Colored. 
15 

17 

8,981 

819 

6,675 
102 

7,009 

108 

1,644 

5,869 

I 

6,712 

5,349 
11,664 

4,415 

3 
I 

13 

21 

967 

13.522 

18,191 

I 

6 

2,171 

• 9 

2,988 

76 

2,096 

274 

2,838 

8,467 

34 

2,953 

2 



Counties. White. 

113 Iron 868 

114 Jack 9,643 

115 Jackson i,459 

116 Jasper 3,214 

117 Jeff Davis .. 1,352 

118 Jefferson 3,638 

119 Johnson 21,459 

12& Jones 3,790 

121 Karnes 3,093 

122 Kaufman . . .18,418 

123 Kendall 3,610 

124 Kent 324 

125 Kerr 4,355 

126 Kimple 2,238 

127 King 171 

128 Kinney 3,527 

129 Knox 1,134 

130 Lamar 27,883 

131 Lamb 4 

132 Lampasas . . 7,320 

133 La vSalle .... 2,072 

134 Lavaca 17,631 

135 Lee 8,850 

136 Leon 8,464 

137 Liberty 2,512 

138 Limestone .,17,217 

139 Lipscombe.. 632 

140 Live Oak . . . 2,006 

141 Llano 6,719 

142 Loving 3 

143 Lubbock. ... 31 

144 Lynn 24 

145 McCulloch .. 3,205 

146 McLennan., 2,811 

147 McMullen... 994 

148 Madison .... 6,439 

149 Marion 3,861 

150 Martin 264 

151 Mason 5, 149 

152 Matagorda.. 1,364 



Colored. 

97 

1,822 

2,378 

37 

2,218 

852 

7 

544 

3.176 

216 

106 

5 
2 

253 

9.378 

262 

67 

4,253 

3,102 

5.377 
1,715 
4,459 

49 

52 



12 
10,381 

44 
2,070 

6,989 

31 
2,621 



STATISTICS OF THE RACK. 



COl 



Cottnties, White. 

153 Maverick ... 3,547 

154 Medina 5,445 

155 Menard 1,192 

156 Midland 1,028 

157 Milam 18,548 

158 Mills 5,436 

159 Mitchell 1,950 

160 Montegue . . .18,774 

161 Montgomery 6,275 

162 Moore 15 

163 Morris 3,968 

164 Motley 136 

165 Nacogdochesii,7i3 

166 Navarro . . . .20,105 

167 Newton 3,092 

168 Nolan 1,540 

169 Nueces 7,384 

170 Ochiltree ... 198 

171 Oldham 267 

172 Orange 3,937 

173 Palo Pinto . . 8,253 

174 Panola 7,978 

175 Parker 21,009 

176 Parmer 7 

177 Pecos 1,307 

178 Polk 6,272 

179 Potter 830 

180 Presidio .... 1,669 

181 Rains 3,494 

182 Randall 187 

183 Red River . . 14,832 

184 Reeves 1,224 

185 Refugio 915 

186 Roberts 324 

187 Robertson ..12,326 

188 Rockwall . . . 5,75^^ 

189 Runnels .... 3,162 
igo Rusk 10,026 

191 Sabine 3,885 

192 S. Augustine 4,557 



olored. 


Counties. 


White. 




142 


193 


San Jacinto , 


1.027 




283 


194 


San Patricio, 






23 


195 


San Saba . . , 


. 0.^- 


« -. 


3 


196 Schlicher . . , 


134 


4 


6,220 


197 


Scurr)' 


• i.4»3 


a 


57 


1 98 vShackclfonl 


• l.''4S 


ir.7 


99 


199 


Shelby 


.11,411 


2.<>5l 


87 


200 


Sherman. . . , 


"T 


1 


5,488 


201 


Smith 


.15.' 


-.670 




202 


Somen-ille . 


• 3.4«3 


6 


2,610 


203 


Starr , 


10.739 


10 


3 


204 


Stephens 


4.931 


5 


4,257 


205 


Stonewall . . 


. i.oai 


3 


6,266 


206 Sutton 


(y) 


1 


1.558 


207 


Swisher. ... 


KMi 




32 


20S 


Tarrant 


.3^ — 


, 


707 


209 


Taylor 


6,7(^^ 


• *4 




210 


Terry 


ai 




3 


211 


T roc km Often 89 1 


11 


829 


212 


Titus 


. 6.430 


l.7<^ 


67 


213 


Tom Greene 


4.944 


»2 


6,350 


214 


Travis 


26.333 


I 


671 


215 


Trinity 


5.740 


I. / ^ 




216 


Tyler 


8.4S4 




8 


217 


Upshur 


8.: 


< 


3,834 


218 


Upton 


51 




14 


219 


Uvalde 


3.720 


"4 


26 


220 


Valve rdc . . . 


2.758 


108 


415 


221 


Van Zandt. . 


I5.«27 


T -..«' 




000 


Victoria 


5.217 




6,628 


00 T 


Walker 


5.642 


d 


7 


224 


Waller 


4.184 


; 


324 


225 


Ward . 


74 


3 





226 


Washington. 


13. 




14,142 


00 ■* 


Webb. 


■ ; 


2)4 


216 


22S 


Wharton . . 


. I.-: 


.119 


31 


229 


Whcclcr . 




t6 


7,624 


230 


WhithiUi.... 


•♦• , " 


138 


1,004 


231 


Wilbarger . . 


7.057 


5'. 


2,i3r 


"J 


Williamson . 


21.14^> 


7 



662 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 



Counties. 


White. Colored. 


233 Wilson 


. 9,602 


1,053 


234 Winkler . . . 


18 




235 Wise 


.23.971 


161 


236 Wood 


.10,680 


3,249 


237 Yoakum , . . 


4 




238 Young 


. 3,034 


15 


239 Zapata 


• 3,561 




240 Zavalla .... 


. 1,094 


8 


VIRGINIA. 




I Accomac. . . . 


•17,547 


9,730 


2 Albemarle . . 


.18,252 


14,127 


3 Alexandria. . 


.11,361 


7,236 


4 Alleghany , . 


. 6,955 


2,328 


5 Amelia 


. 3,023 


6,045 


6 Amherst .... 


• 9,923 


7,628 


7 Appomattox 


. 5,254 


7,336 


8 Augusta .... 


.28,596 


8,409 


9 Bath 


. 3,827 


761 


10 Bedford .... 


.20,064 


11,149 


1 1 Bland 


. 4,888 


241 


12 Botetourt . . . 


.11,122 


3,782 


13 Brunswick . . 


. 6,651 


10,584 


14 Buchanan. . . 


. 5,843 


24 


15 Buckingham 


. 6,786 


7,587 


16 Campbell . . . 


.21,283 


19,804 


1 7 Carolina .... 


. 7,359 


9,322 


18 Carroll 


•15,135 


362 


19 Charles City. 


. 1,348 


3,718 


20 Charlotte . . . 


. 5,716 


9,361 


21 Chesterfield 


•15,399 


10,812 


22 Clark 


. 5,617 


2,454 


23 Craig 


. 3,686 


149 


24 Culpepper . . 


• 7,147 


6,086 


25 Cumberland 


. .2,860 


6,622 


26 Dickenson . . 


. 5,051 


26 


27 Dinwiddie . . 


• 15,570 


20,619 


28 Elizabeth City 8,278 


7,890 


29 Essex 


. 3,584 


6,463 


30 Fairfax 


.11,586 


5,069 


31 Fauquier . . . 


.14,686 


7,904 


32 Floyde 


.13,230 


1,175 



Counties. White. 

33 Fluvanna .... 5,051 

34 Franklin ....18,737 

35 Frederick .... 15,652 

36 Giles 8,253 

37 Gloucester . . . 5,437 

38 Goochland ... 7,083 

39 Grayson 13, 473 

40 Greene 4, 114 

41 Greensville . . 2,919 

42 Halifax 15,008 

43 Hanover .... 9,188 

44 Henrico 59,775 

45 Henry 9,928 

46 H ighland .... 4, 930 

47 Isle of Wight. 6,169 

48 James City. . . 2,317 

49 King George. 3,433 

50 Kmg & Queen 4,255 

51 King William' 3,783 

52 Lancaster.... 3,171 

53 Lee 17,002 

54 Loudoun 16,696 

55 Louisa 7,192 

56 Lunenburg. . . .4,636 

57 Madison 6,260 

58 Mathews 5,447 

59 Mecklenburg. 9,329 

60 Middlesex ... 3,141 

61 Montgomery. 14,227 

62 Nansemond.. 8,925 

63 Nelson 9,033 

64 New Kent . . . 1,956 

65 Norfolk 37,497 

66 Northampton. 4,833 

67 N'th'berland. 4,795 

68 Nottoway .... 3,959 

69 Orange . . 



70 Page 

71 Patrick 

72 Pittsylvania 

73 Powhatan . . 



6,573 
11,320 

12,079 

30,847 
2,358 



Colored, 
4,457 
6.248 
2,228 

837 
6,216 

5,875 

921 

1,508 

5,311 

19,416 

8,214 

43,619 

8,283 

422 

5,144 
3,326 
3,208 

5,434 

5,822 
4,020 
1,214 
6,578 
9,805 
6.736 

3.965 

2,136 

16,030 

4,317 

3,515 
10,767 

6,303 

3,555 

39,571 

5,480 

3,090 
7,623 
6,241 
1,772 
2,068 
29,094 

4,433 



STATISTICS OF THE RACE. 



CC3 



Counties. White. Colored. 

74 Pr. Edward. 7,770 9,924 

75 Pr. George.. 2,732 5,140 

76 Pr. William.. 7,210 2,595 

77 Prin'ss Anne 4,131 5,379 

78 Pulaski 9,669 3,121 

79 Rappah'nock 5,863 2,818 

80 Richmond... 3.998 3,148 

81 Roanoke 21,082 9,019 

82 Rockbridge .17,931 5. 131 

83 Rockingham 28,485 2,814 

84 Russell 14.923 i.2"3 

85 Scott 20,726 968 

86 Smyth 12,136 1,224 

87 Shenandoah. 18,829 842 

88 Southampton 8,293 11,785 

89 Spottsylvania8,i56 6,077 

90 Stafford 5.893 1.469 

91 Surry 3.238 5.oi8 

92 Sussex 3.524 7,776 

93 Tazewell 16,395 3.504 

94 Warren 7.016 1,264 

95 Warwick 2,884 3,866 

96 Washington. 25,215 2,805 

97 Westmorel'd 3,662 4,737 

98 Wise 8,763 582 

99 Wythe 14.849 3,170 

100 York 3,201 4,395 

WEST VIRGINIA. 

1 Barbour 12,204 498 

2 Berkeley 17,005 1,664 

3 Boone 6,715 i7o 

4 Braxton 13, 794 -34 

5 Brooke 6,545 "4 

6 Cabell 22,101 i,493 

7 Calhoun 8,074 81 

8 Clay 4,659 

9 Dodridge ....12,052 131 

10 Fayette 17.48S 3,o54 

11 Gilmer 9.696 5o 

12 Grant 6,423 379 

13 Greenbier.... 16,041 i,993 



Counties. White. Colored. 

14 Hampshire . . . 10,852 567 

15 Hancock 6,392 21 

16 Hardy 6,977 5'/" 

17 Harrison 21,158 760 

18 Jackson 18,934 87 

19 JcfTcTson 11,437 4.11^* 

20 Kanawka . . . .39,554 3.4'»2 

21 Lewis 15.627 2f>i 

22 Lincoln 11.035 211 

23 Logan 10,4 if. f>5 

24 McDowell.... 5,'/>'; ii59i 

25 Marion 20,617 V14 

26 Marshall 2(j,4«/) 236 

27 Mason 22,104 759 

28 Mercer 13.979 2,022 

29 Mineral ii,6f>4 4'^* 

30 Monongalia . .15,477 227 

31 Monroe 11. 45" 979 

32 Morgan 6,469 275 

33 Nicholas 9.2'^7 2> 

34 Ohio 40,452 1.098 

35 Pendleton.... 8,585 126 

36 Pleasants 7.530 ' 

37 Pocahontas . . 6.461 353 

38 Preston 20,221 I34 

39 Putnam i4.i«5 237 

40 Raleigh 9.?'^ 79 

41 Randolph ...u,-i 2O2 

42 Ritchie i''.5'5 3^ 

43 Roane 15.274 *> 

44 Summers ....11.990 i.»27 

45 Taylor , u.tS 3^2 

46 Tucker 6,276 183 

47 Tyler 11.960 a 

48 Upshur 12.45S 

49 Wayne 1S.491 

50 Webster 4. 772 «» 

51 Wetzel 16. '"5 3^ 

52 Wirt 9.387 »4 

53 Wood 27.700 910 

54 Wi-oming 6,177 7^ 



COLORED MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. 



SENATORS. 

Length of 
Name. Elected. Service. State. 

Bruce, B. K 1875-81 6 years Mississippi 

Revells, Hiram Feb. 23, 1870, to Mch. 3, 1871 Mississippi 



REPRESENTATIVES. 

Length of 
Name. Elected. Service. State. 

Cain, Rich. H 43d and 45th Cong. 4 years S.Carolina 

Cheatham, H. P...52d and 53d " 4 " N.Carolina 

De Large, Robt.C.42d " 2 " S. Carolina 

Elliott, Robt. B...42d " 2 " S.Carolina 

Haalson, Jerry 44th " 2 " Alabama 

Hyman, John 44th " 2 " N. Carolina 

Langston, John M.. 51st " 2 " Virginia 

Long, Jeff 41st " 2 " Georgia 

Lynch, John R 43d, 44th and 47th " 6 " Mississippi 

Miller, Thos. H... 51st *' 2 " S.Carolina 

Murray, Geo. W.. 53d and 54th " 4 " S.Carolina 

Nash, Chas. E 44th " 2 " Louisiana 

O'Hara, Jas. E 48th and 49th " 4 " N. Carolina 

Rainey, Jos, H 44th et seq " 10 " S. Carolina 

Ransier, A J 43d " 2 " S. Carolina 

Rapier, Jas. T 43d " 2 " Alabama 

Smalls, Robt 44th, 45th and 47th " 6 " S. Carolina 

Turner, Benj. S...42d " 2 " Alabama 

Wall, JosiahT....42d, 43d and 44th " 6 " Florida 

White, Geo. H 55th " Present member N. Carolina 

DEPARTMENT OE STATE.— There are nine colored employes m 
the Department of State at Washington (all men). 

DEPARTMENT OE JUSTiCE.— There are ten colored employes in 
the Department of Justice at Washington — seven males and three 
females. ^ 



SUPPLEMENT. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE NEGRO SOLDIER IN THE CUBAN INSURRKCTION AND 

SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 

Written expressly for this book by Prof. W. IT. Crogman. A. M. 

The persistent efforts of Spain to retain under her 
cruel, corrupt, and inefficient government the fertile 
island of Cuba have again, in these closing years of the 
nineteenth century, brought to light the splendid qual- 
ities of the Negro soldier. Of limited education, poorly 
armed, poorly clad, and poorly fed, he has sharctl the 
toils, the perils, the privations of his white compalri«»ts, 
and has exhibited such fortitude and loyalty, --.oh 
unswerving devotion to the cause of Cuban lil>crty 
as to win unstinted praise even from those cherishing' 
strong prejudice against his race. Whatever may be 
the future of Cuba, impartial history will ascribe to the 
Negro no small part of the sacrifice made for her de- 
liverance. Both as a slave and as a frecdman his syra- 
pathies were with the insurgents. In the first revolu- 
tion, beginning October lo, iS6S, and lasting ten years. 
there were thousands of blacks under the in ■ nt 
standard. It is reasonable to believe, that in this hrst 
uprisino- they imbibed the martial spirit, and a . 
that training and discipline which made thorn so cfh- 
cient in the last struggle to throw off the ^. ^ 
It has been officially stated that of the thirty t^^ 
Cubans recently under arms two-fifths worr Nov 
commonly so called. 



e 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

Leadership. — Not only soldiers, however, but Negro 
leaders of conspicuotis ability were brought to light by 
the recent Cuban insurrection. Prominent among 
these may be mentioned Flor Crombet, a dashing lead- 
er, a stubborn fighter, unflinching in his loyalty to 
Cuba as he was unrelenting in his hostility to Spain. 

Equally brave, and more of a military genius, per- 
haps, was Quintin Bandera, a Negro of unmixed blood. 
Indeed, there is much of romance in the life of this 
man. Hon. Amos J. Cummings, one of the five con- 
gressmen invited by the New York Journal to visit 
Cuba, and report the state of things there, had this to 
say about Quintin Bandera, in his speech before Con- 
gress, Friday, April, 29, 1898: 

"Quintin Bandera means 'fifteen flags.* The appel- 
lation was given to Bandera because he had captured 
fifteen Spanish ensigns. He is a coal-black Negro, of 
remarkable military ability. He was a slave of Que- 
sada. With others of Maceo's staff, he was sent to 
prison at Ceuta. While in prison the daughter of a 
Spanish officer fell in love with him. Through her aid, 
he escaped in a boat to Gibraltar, where he became a 
British subject and married his preserver. She is of 
Spanish and Moorish blood, and is said to be a lady of 
education and refinement. She taught her husband 
to read and write, and takes great pride in his achieve- 
ments. '* 

Antonio Maceo. — Of all the leaders produced by the 
Cuban war the most colossal and imposing figure is 
Antonio Maceo. Says Mr. Cummings of him : 

"He was as swift on the march as either Sheridan or 
Stonewall Jackson, and equally as prudent and wary. 
He had flashes of military genius when a crisis arose. 
It was to his sudden inspiration that Martinez Campos 



NEGRO SOLDIER IN THE SPANISH- AMI RICA V WAR 

owed his final defeat at Coliseo, i^iviiiL,^ the i)atriotK Ihc 
opportunity to overrun the richest of tlic western 
provinces and to carry the war to tlic very jjatc< of 
Havana." 




GEN. ANTONIO MACEO. 



Speaking of his attachment to the cause of Cuban 
liberty, the same author says : 

- No one has ever questioned his patriotism. 



could not buy him ; promises 

U Progress 



could not deceive h:iu 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

His devotion to Cuban freedom was like the devotion 
of a father to his family. All his energies, physical 
and intellectual, were given freely to his country." 

It is well known that of all the men arrayed against 
them the Spaniards dreaded Maceo most. Through 
emissaries they made repeated efforts to have him 
poisoned ; but without success. When finally the news 
reached them of his fall by Spanish bullets, their joy 
was indescribable and their hope of success corre- 
spondingly raised. 

The greatness of this man as a leader, however, ap- 
parent as it was in his life, became even more so in his 
death. His fall sent a shock throughout the civilized 
world. Men felt instinctively that the Cuban cause 
had lost its mightiest chieftain, its loftiest source of 
inspiration. It is doubtful, indeed, whether the death 
of any man within the century produced a sorrow more 
general and profound. So sincere was the regret that 
for weeks, nay, almost months, people would not be- 
lieve that the daring leader was gone. They said it 
was only a ruse he was practicing on the Spaniards, 
and at some moment when they least expected him he 
would strike like a thunderbolt. Alas ! that moment 
was never to come. His death, however, won uni- 
versal sympathy for the Cuban cause. So far, then, as 
he was personally concerned, it was as well for him to 
die when he did as to die later. He had shown to the 
world what was in his heart and brain ; he had written 
his name high upon the scroll of the world's heroes; 
he had done this, too, not for vain-glory, not for self 
aggrandizement, not for the purpose of crushing and 
humiliating his fellow-men; but for the purpose of 
rescuing a suffering people from a hideous and op- 
pressive tyranny. 



NEGRO SOLDIER IN TIIK Si" A NISI 1- AMERICAN WAK 



The Negro Soldier in the Spanish-Americiiii War. 
—It is an historic fact that reflects no liiilc cicdii uu the 
Negro, that on the very verge of hostilities with Spain 
the first regiment ordered to the front was the Twenly. 
fourth United States regulars. This colored re . .'t, 

like all the regiments of its kind, had, in time of peace, 
maintained in the West a splendid record, not only for 
soldierly efficiency, but for manly and respcctfurcon. 
duct. Wherever quartered in that section of ry 

the Negro regiments were liked, and in, more than one 
instance did the citizens petition for their retention 
when they were about to be moved, preferring their 
presence to that of white troops. It is safe to say, per- 
haps, that the best behaved men in times of peace arc 
the best and most reliable men in times of war. Char- 
acter always tells. The ruffian and the rowdy aro 
brave under favorable conditions, when the odds arc 
on their side. It requires courageous men to face 
coolly all sorts of dangers and difficulties. The short 
war with Spain has shown Negroes to be just such 
men. From no service have the black soldiers shrunk. 
At no time did they show the white feather. With 
far less to inspire them they have shown tlicmsclvcs od 
every occasion not one whit inferior to their \vhit<^ 
comrades in arms. -Nay, some are inclined to giv#» 

them the palm for bravery displayed in the recr- 

around Santiago and at other stubbornly-di.spuic^ 
points. A correspondent of the New York Sun— a 
paper quick, by the way, to recognize the n: ■' of 
the black troops— describing the scenes on that 
Friday at Santiago, said : 

"While the proportion of colored men wonr. 
been large, by their courage and supreme cb 
they have really carried off thp n.ilm for he 




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NEGRO SOLDIER IN THK SPANISH- AMERICAN WAR. 

Here is what one of the wounded Rou^di Riders, Ken- 
neth Robinson, has to say about the bhiek soldiers, 
Robinson is lying in one of tlic tents here sulTcring 
from a shot through his chest. A pair of underdraws 
and one sock, the costume in wliieli he arrived from 
the front, is all that he has to his name at ])resenL 
On the next cot to him lies an immense Nej^ro, who 
has been simply riddled with l)ullets, but is still able 
to crack a smile and even to hum a tunc occasionally. 
Between him and the Calumet man tliere has spninjj 
up a friendship. Til tell you what it is.' said Robin- 
son this morning, 'Without any disregard to my own 
regiment I want to say that, the whitest men in this 
fight have been the black ones. At all events they 
have been the best friends that the Rou-di Riders have 
had, and every one of us, from Colonel Roosevelt 
down, appreciates it. When our men were Inring 
mown down to right and left in that charge up the hill 
it was the black cavalry men who were the first to carr)* 
our wounded away, and during that awful day and 
night that I lay in the field liospital, waitinjj for a 
chance to get down here, it was two big colored men, 
badly wounded themselves, who kept my spirits up. 
Why, in camp every night before the fight the colored 
soldiers used to come over and serenade Colonels 
Wood and Roosevelt; and weren't they just tickled to 
death about it' The last night before I was wounded 
a whole lot of them came o\'er, and when Colonel 1 " 
velt made a little speech thanking them for their 
one bio- sersfcant got up and said: 'It's all right, ■ 
onel, we'se all rough riders new.' " 

From another source we take the following: 
"I was standing near Captain Capron and Hamilton 
Fish," said the corporal t<^ the Associate^ P''-^ rnrro. 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

spondent tonight, "and saw them shot down. They 
were with the Rough Riders and ran into an ambush, 
though they had been warned of the danger. Captain 
Capron and Fish were shot while leading a charge. 
If it had not been for the Negro cavalry, the Rough 
Riders would have been exterminated. I am not a 
Negro lover. My father fought with Mosby's rangers, 
and I was born in the South, but the Negroes saved 
that fight, and the day will come when General Shafter 
will give them credit for their bravery." 

A correspondent of the Atlanta Evening Journal, 
July 30, 1898, has this to say: 

"I have been asked repeatedly since my return about 
what kind of soldiers the Negroes make. The Negroes 
make fine soldiers. Physically the colored troops are the 
best men in the army, especially the men in the Ninth 
and Tenth cavalry. Every man of them is a giant. The 
Negroes in the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth infan- 
try, too, are all big fellows. These colored regiments 
fought as well, according to General Sumner, in whose 
command they were, as the white regiments. What I 
saw of them in battle confirmed what General Sumner 
said. The Negroes seemed to be absolutely without 
fear, and certainly no troops advanced more promptly 
when the order was given than they. ' * 

In the course of the war, however, .there came to the 
colored troops a severer test than that of facing Mauser 
bullets. A yellow fever hospital was to be cleansed 
and yellow fever sufferers were to be nursed. An 
order went forth from General Miles that a regiment 
be detailed for such service. "In response to this 
order," said Mr. Robert B. Cramer in the Atlanta 
Constitution, Tuesday, August 16, 1898, "the Twenty- 
fourth infantry, made up entirely of colored men, left 



NEGRO SOLDIER IN THE SPANISH- AMERICAN WAR. 



their trenches at night, and at dawn the next m 
they had reported to Dr. LaGardc. An hour hiter tlu-y 
were put at work, and before sunset ayain the 1:. { 
their tents were straightened out, the debris of the 
burned buildings was cleared away, the watcr\%'orks 
were put in operation, and the entire camp became a 
place in which a sick man stood at least a fighting 
chance of getting well." 

"It was peculiarly appropriate," continues Mr. 
Cramer, "that the Twenty- fourth should be s< ' • 1 
for that place, because it was one of unquesti 
honor, and at that time there was nothing that couid 
be done for the colored troops in paying tribute to their 
work as soldiers that ought not to have been done. In 
all the disputes that historians will indulge in as to who 
did and who did not do their duty at the siege of Santi- 
ago no one will ever question the service of the dark- 
skinned regulars, who from the time the Tenth fought 
with the Rough Riders in the first day's "fight, until 
the Twenty-fifth infantry participated in the actual 
surrender, did their whole duty as soldiers. All that 
can be said in praise of any regiment that participated 
in the campaign can be said of those regiments which 
were made up of colored troops, and I am glad to 
quote General Wheeler as saying: 

'The only thing necessary in handling a i 1 

regiment is to have officers over them who are c 
courageous. Give them the moral inHucncc f- <l 
leadership and they are as fine soldiers as exi 
where in the world. Put them where you want them, 
point out what you want them to shoot at and th- I 

keep on shooting until either their dfficere tell ♦' 
stop or they are stopped by the enemy.' " 

Such testimony from a hard-fighting ex-Luuicuc:aLv; 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

general ought to be sufficient to establish the merits of 
the Negro as a soldier ; but it may be well, as there is 
evidence varied and abundant, and from high author- 
ity to hear from others. Mr. George Kennan of Sibe- 
rian prison fame, special correspondent for the Outlook, 
wrote in the issue of August 13: 

*'I have not, as yet, the information necessary to do 
anything like justice to the regiments that particularly 
distinguished themselves in Friday's battle; but upon 
the basis of the information I already have, I do not 
hesitate to call especial attention to the splendid 
behavior of the colored troops. It is the testimony of 
all who saw them under fire, that they fought with the 
utmost courage, coolness, and determination, and Col- 
onel Roosevelt said to a squad of them in the trenches, 
in my presence, that he never expected to have, and 
could not ask to have better men beside him in a hard 
fight. If soldiers come up to Colonel Roosevelt's 
standard of courage, their friends have no reason to 
feel ashamed of them. His commendation is equiva- 
lent to a medal of honor for conspicuous gallantry, 
because, in the slang of the camp, he himself is 'a 
fighter from 'way back.' I can testify, furthermore, 
from my own personal observation in the field hospital 
of the Fifth army corps Saturday and Sunday night 
that the colored regulars who were brought in there 
displayed extraordinary fortitude and self control. 
There were a great many of them, but I can not re- 
member to have heard a groan or a complaint from a 
single man." 

His Patriotism.— At the outbreak of the war with 
Spain, there were ' not wanting those who questioned 
the patriotism of the Negro. To all such skeptics we 
commend the following extract from the organ of the 
American Missionary Association : 




^^>^^ 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

"Never can the students of Talladega college forget 
the commencement of 1898, when so many brave men 
left their cherished plans to engage in the war with 
Spain. Those laughter-loving boys, earnest in study, 
but full of fun and careless sometimes, as boys will be 
— one hardly knew them when the war spirit rose and 
they stood in line with the new, steady light of resolu- 
tion shining in their dark eyes. In i860 young men of 
Anglo-Saxon blood left that same building to fight 
against the Union. One of those young men, now 
governor of the state, thirty-eight years later, tele- 
graphs to the same school asking Negroes to defend 
the same government, and they cheerfully respond. 
Is not this a revolution of the wheel of time? 

The governor's telegram came Wednesday, almost 
two weeks before commencement. All volunteers 
were prompt, having completed satisfactorily the work 
of the year with the exception of the closing exercises. 

Thirty in all volunteered, three or four of whom 
were not students, a third of this number being unable 
to pass the severe physical test. A farewell meeting 
was held in the chapel, and the young soldiers told in 
stirring words the motives that led them to offer their 
lives to their country ; their resolve to fight for the 
freedom of bleeding Cuba, their love of the Stars and 
Stripes in spite of the wrongs they themselves had 
suffered, their strong desire to show that Negroes could 
not only live and work, but die, like men. Many 
earnest appeals were made for prayers, that they might 
never turn their backs to their enemies, nor yield to 
the temptations of camp life. At last a quiet little 
woman with an earnest face arose and told in trem- 
bling tones her determination to go as nurse, if she 
could find an opportunity. She was called to the plat- 



NEGRO SOLDIER IN THE SPANISH- AMKKICAN WAR. 

form and it was beautiful to sec the reverence with 
which the tall, young fellows gathered alx>ut her. 

Talladega college had reason to be proud of her 
sons as they marched to the station with a thi^' and a 
band, and went off with a ringing cheer. Nor were 
her daughters wanting; their hearts were achinjj, but 
their faces dressed in smiles as they sent their bmf hpfs 
away as patriotically as those of fairer hue. 

The Talladega students have not been permitted to 
meet any Spaniards in battle, but their record in camp 
at Mobile has been true to their promises. They have 
shown to every one the advantage of education. Their 
officers prize them highly, and the rough, ignorant 
men who are their comrades, have felt their influence, 
so that the governor has publicly commended their 
behavior." 

Commenting on the above, the writer says: 

"Probably no institution in the East sent as large a 
percentage of student soldiers to bear the flag of our 
common country to victory as did our missionary 
schools. Our students have not been taught that war 
is glory. It was conscience with them. They went 
as deliverers from oppression and saw their opp<jrtunity 
to prove their devotion and gratitude to the count f)- 
for their own deliverance. They have made tlicir 

record. ' ' 

Surely this is very refreshing, especially just now 
when a certain class of persons are endeavoring to 
deprecate Negro education, or at least to o ^ it to 
manual training, as best suited to the sphere in v. 
he is to move, a proposition, we may add, as absurd as 
any that could be propounded by enlightened men 
living under a republican form of government Von 
Moltke attributed his success at Sadowa to the 



PROGRESS OF A RACE. 

influence of the Prussian schoolmaster, and Wellington 
thought that the battle of Waterloo was first won on 
the cricket field at Rugby. Evidently a machine is a 
good thing, but a thinking machine is better. What 
the Negro needs is thought power, and that kind of 
education which will develop this power in him will fit 
him not only for the best mechanic, but for the best 
soldier and most efficient citizen. 

In closing this chapter we would add that we have by 
no means exhausted the evidence in favor of the 
Negro soldier; but have presented enough to show 
that he has won universal admiration and respect, 
and is entitled to the generous consideration and 
gratitude of the whole country. 

Negro Officers. — At the beginning of the war there 
was but one Negro commissioned officer, Major 
Charles Young, a graduate of West Point. The major 
is a Kentuckian by birth, and though yet a young man 
has distinguished himself in several responsible posi- 
tions. After graduation he was assigned to the Tenth 
cavalry. He served also in the Ninth ; but was sub- 
sequently appointed by President Cleveland instructor 
in military science at Wilberforce University, Ohio. 
He is now Major of the Ninth battalion, Ohio National 
Volunteers, appointed to this position by Governor 
Bushnell. 

With the opening of the war and the enlistment of 
Negro troops there naturally arose among them a 
demand for Negro officers. The country, however was 
not prepared to grant this. Doubts were expressed, 
perhaps reasonably, as to the ability of the Negro to 
lead. The newspapers, especially the class of them 
that feel it their religious duty to oppose everything 
looking towards the promotion of a Negro, declared 




MAJOR CHARLES YOUNG. 



f(l ^H^^H. 



ro 



GOG"!' PROGRESS OF A RACE. ^^-xlin^". ' , 

that he was fundamentally and eternally unfitted for 
leadership. There was, however, as there always is, 
a thoughtful minority who espoused the other side of 
the question. Prominent among these should be 
mentioned Gen. Thomas J. Morgan. 

*' There was no better fighting done during the civil 
war," says this old-time friend of the colored people, 
"than was done by some of the Negro troops. With 
my experience, in command of 5,000 Negro soldiers, 
I would on the whole prefer, I think, the command of 
a corps of Negro troops to that of a corps of white 
troops. With the magnificent record of their fighting 
qualities on many a hard-contested field, it is not 
unreasonable to ask that a still further opportunity 
shall be extended to them in commissioning them as 
officers as well as enlisting them as soldiers." 

It is encouraging, however, to notice at this point, 
that, notwithstanding the opposition to the appoint- 
ment of Negro officers, the commissioned officers of 
this race now number considerably over one hundred. 
They rank from second-lieutenant up to colonel. 
This much inside of a brief period of three months. 

Governor Tanner, of Illinois, addressing a volunteer 
regiment of that state, said : 

"I propose, my fellow-citizens, to be the first man in 
this broad land — the first governor of the United States, 
to offer this full measure of citizenship to the African 
race, not only to enlist a regiment of volunteer soldiers, 
but to officer that regiment, from colonel down, with 
colored men. Then if upon the field of conflict, 
whether it be upon the soil of the United States, the 
island of Cuba, Porto Rico, or the Philippines, or upon 
the soil of that decrepit nation, you win victory, all the 
glory of it will be to your officers and your race." 

*Thirty-two pa^es are here added to the folios of the original book, to 
include the full page half tone illustrations and new matter not before 
numbered. 



